Present Matter Iko Town in Eastern Obolo
IYDA/NPDC/0104/2020
30th April, 2020
His Excellency,
Mr. Emmanuel Grabriel Udom,
The Governor of AkwaI bom State;
Through:
The Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government,
Attention: Dr. Emmanuel E. Ekuwem.
Sir,
*HUMBLE PETITION IN RESPECT OF VIOLATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT,* *FARMLANDS, CROPS,* *FISHES AND LIVES OF IKO PEOPLE AS WELL AS INFRACTION OF THE AGREEMENT DATED 10TH OF NOVEMBER,* *2019 WITH IKO COMMUNITY, AND THE FLAGRANT BREACH OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS OF THE IKO PEOPLE BY STERLING ENERGY EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION COMPANY LIMITED (SEEPCO) AND NATURAL OIL SERVICES LIMITED (NOSL):*
*AN URGENT CALL FOR REDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, THE GOVERNOR OF AKWA IBOM STATE, MR. EMMANUEL GABRIEL UDOM.*
*• Introduction*
We, the Iko Youth Development Association (IYDA), a registered organization with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), representing the interest of our numerous members, and also the voiceless, marginalized and generality of the Iko people, do wish to draw Your Excellency’s attention to the recalcitrant behavior of Sterling Energy Exploration And Production Company Limited (SEEPCO), by not honouring the Agreement reached as reflected in a Communiqué of 10th November, 2019 with Iko Community; and violations of the environmental and the socio-economic rights of the youths, women, fishermen, the old and young in Iko by their on-going civil work operations in location 1, Utapate Oil field development project OML, 13 Iko Town and wish to lodge the following complaints and respectfully demand redress and intervention from Your Excellency’s esteemed office as the first Citizen and Chief Security Officer of our dear Akwa Ibom State, in respect of all the issues highlighted hereunder.
*I. Our Complaints*
A. Lingering and Unresolved Urgent Issues with NPDC/SEEPCO/NOSL:
1. SEEPCO/NOSL has renaged to honour an Agreement reached in a Communiqué with Iko Community on November 10th, 2019 at Madelyn Hotel, Eket, to negotiate and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Agreement within six weeks of signing the communiqué and even after lifting the 52-day blockade of SEEPCO by the youths and women in Iko Town.
The Community has kept to its own side of the bargain by lifting the blockade on 3rd December, 2019, but SEEPCO has continuously violated and ignored its own side of the agreement to negotiate and sign the Memorandum of Understanding with Iko Community.
2. All the legacy issues raised in our position paper received by NPDC/SEEPCO since 2017 have remained untreated despite promises made to address the legacy issues.
3. No FTO (Freedom to Operate) signed between Iko Community and NPDC/SEEPCO/NOSL on the on-going civil works phase of the Utapate Oil field development project, OML 13, Iko Town.
Previous Efforts to reach agreement on all the key elements of the FTO failed before the 52-day blockade of SEEPCO which ended at NPDC’s intervention on 3rd December, 2019. However, there has not been any subsequent meeting between SEEPCO and the Community on the matter as promised by same and NPDC.
B. Negative Impact and Injury from On-going Civil Works Operations on the Environment and the People
1. Illegal dredging of our creeks and rivers as well as clearing of our bushes and mangroves without environmental impact assessment.
We have proof of when dredging commenced in Iko.
2. The youths, fishermen, transporters, women and men of Iko Community, the relevant and neglected stakeholders, decried the sand-filling and blocking of our ancient creek, fishing ground and transportation root –
The popular Ichana Creek- destruction of habitat, marine lives and ecosystem, loss of biodiversity in this era of global concern for the environment and climate change, loss of fishing rights, livelihood and the unimaginable future repercussions on our common heritage and assets without due consultation and engagement.
3. Desecration of the Community main cemetery, dishonouring and disturbing the peace of the dead from the different families and households without compensation and engagement with the families, households and other relevant stakeholders in the Community. The cemetery is an ancient heritage of all Iko people dating back to generations before now and same has been destroyed without any engagement or compensation paid to the families and households.
4. There are complaints of dredgers blocking the creeks and preventing local fishermen from going out on fishing for days.
5. SEEPCO has taken over the waterfront of the Community since 2017, causing damage to the only landing jetty built through communal effort with support from an NGO, displacing local fishermen, women and local transporters, disrupting a thriving fish market at the beach resulting in temporary loss of livelihood, businesses and a lot of inconveniences to the locals.
6. SEEPCO has continued to put the lives of the Community and its environment at risk by parking heavy duty trucks carrying heavy industrial equipment and materials along the road in the Community without proper signs and personnel engaged to guide other road users.
7. The influx of people into Iko, since the advent of SEEPCO and the Utapate oil Field Development Project in Iko Town, has raised serious sanitation concerns – there are no public toilets, Community water supply, collection, disposal and management of refuge (sachet water bags litters everywhere) to carter for the growing population driven by migrant workers and those seeking business opportunities from SEEPCO.
C. Poor Treatment of Community Workers
Few unskilled workers employed from the Community are not given appointment letters as well as terms and condition of service. Salaries and wages are not negotiated. The Community workers are employed as slave labour and paid slave wages. Community workers’ salaries are paid to a contractor who makes deductions from the meager daily rate they earn. They are denied proper safety wear which is not the case in other oil and gas companies in Nigeria.
D. Payment of Compensation without Proper Consultation and Engagement with Relevant Stakeholders is a Recipe for Corruption, Underdevelopment and Conflict in the Community.
1. We have gathered that SEEPCO has paid a meager sum of seventy thousand naira (N70, 000) to farmers in Iko for crops on farmland on the right of way of the on-going road project starting from the Refinery road, Ekpitim, Iko running through the swarm to location 2 at Elekpon. This amount did not take account of the inflationary trend in the economy and is grossly inadequate for poor peasant farmers who are going to lose their farmlands and means of livelihood forever to a multimillion dollar income generating project without further plan for future compensation or guaranteed employment for them or their sons and daughters with SEEPCO.
2. We have also gathered that SEEPCO has equally paid certain amount of money to the Community leadership for the right of way on account of another road construction project to location 1, Iko Town going through the children cemetery in Iko without proper and wider consultation and engagement with relevant stakeholders in the Community.
E. Local Content and Community Participation Issues:
1. SEEPCO is cooking food for itself and engaging some untrained Community members to cook food for workers in SEEPCO without appointment letters, condition of service, training and safety kits. This is a contract job that should be handled by a local professional in the Community.
2. On-going supply of AGO is a local content project. Opportunities for local participation in the civil works phase of the project are denied. Same for supply of equipment and materials used in these activities. Previous efforts to address this matter with SEEPCO failed without agreement.
3. The post of base manager and Community liaison officer are held by persons not from Iko Community.
The function of the base manager and Community liaison officer are primarily about Community security, and liaison respectively. An outsider cannot know the Community and security issues in the Community more than indigenes from the Community who speaks their native tongue or language.
4. No employment opportunities for our young graduates both in SEEPCO and NPDC. It is disheartening to see how SEEPCO employs young lawyers and other professionals into SEEPCO to work in Iko and do not consider Iko young graduates and professionals as fit for the same job. It is sad. It is a social injustice and discrimination not acceptable to us.
For instance, both SEEPCO and NPDC have at one point or the other called for Curriculum Vitae (CVs) from graduates of the community for employment. Despite the submission of CVs by graduates from the community, sequel to SEEPCO and NPDC’s requests, none of them (i.e. the graduate) has been given employment till date.
We have the case of a graduate with Master’s degree in Business Management, University of East London, Malaysia, who was interviewed by SEEPCO for the position of Company Base Secretary on 9th October, 2019 at SEEPCO’s Base office in Iko for employment as Company Base Secretary. This was based on a request from the company to the Community. To the surprise of the Community, the Company posted someone from outside to work the next day in that capacity, leaving out the lady from Iko that was interviewed for the same job.
Also, there are the cases of one Muffat Ijokhoman and Sam U. Ibok, both graduates who were asked to submit their CVs directly to the Base Manager, Captain Etete Ekpo and the Security Manager, one Febian Ebri at the base office respectively; and they did, but they have not been considered for any job opportunity despite several calls and contacts to the managers while new intakes are being made into the company.
5. No skill training and preparation of the youths for the drilling, development and construction phase of the Utapate Oil Field development project.
6. No implementation of all the confidence building projects promised the Community since 2018 – a revolving loan scheme for Iko women, scholarship, internal road projects, Community water scheme, renovation of Iko secondary school and renovation of Iko health centre.
7. Local contractors from Iko are not registered and awarded contracts in SEEPCO and NPDC. We want transparency and openness in the matter.
8. It is being speculated that SEEPCO/NPDC are planning to take away major oil exploration and production facilities with positive economic and social benefit and impact from Iko and indeed Eastern Obolo to another Community in another Local Government Area. This will rob Eastern Obolo of future economic opportunities like income, revenues, jobs and other related economic and social benefits and development.
II. Your Excellency, Our Respectful Demands From Your Esteemed Good Office
Your Excellency should graciously REQUEST SEEPCO and NPDC to do the following:
(A.1) Immediately commence negotiation and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iko Community with the participation of the IYDA as a critical stakeholder from the Community in the process; and also take steps to unite the Community as one people and not encourage division by way of divide and rule policy.
An agreement with SEEPCO will guarantee transparency, openness, responsibility and accountability on the sides of both parties (SEEPCO and the Community) and promote a healthy company/Community relations. The absence of agreement will rob and shortchange our people, create a survival of the fittest scenario and growing tension in the Community and may eventually provide opportunity in the hands of trouble makers to foment trouble in the Community.
(A.2) Immediately negotiate with all the relevant stakeholders and to pay compensation for all the legacy issues raised in the position paper of our Community received by NPDC/SEEPCO since 2017 and as reflected in our Solicitor’s (Dr. Mudiaga Odje, SAN & Co.) letter dated 5th of August, 2019.
(A.3) Commence negotiation and signing of FTO (Freedom to Operate) for the on-going civil works phase of the Utapate Oil Field development project in OML 13, Iko Town with the participation of IYDA.
(B.1) Negotiate and pay adequate compensation for all injuries and damages caused to our environment and livelihood by the clearing, dredging, sand-filling and blocking of the Ichana creek.
The IYDA in conjunction with other stakeholders in the Community will present our experts on this matter for proper review and assessment of the impact, receive expert opinion and recommendations, negotiate and agree compensations for payment to the Iko people.
Carry out mangrove forest restoration, conservation and management project in another location in the Community immediately as part of plans to compensate same for the environmental resources and assets lost to the ongoing civil work phase of Utapate Oil Field Development Project. The mangrove restoration project will be facilitated by the IYDA with the support of an environmental NGO.
(B.2) Call a town hall meeting to engage with all relevant stakeholders on the desecration of the Community main cemetery to negotiate and agree compensation amount and method of disbursement to avoid litigations from families and individuals who have family members buried there. The cemetery is an ancient heritage of all Iko people dating back to generations and not the property of one man or group of persons.
Liaise with the Community to acquire land and develop a new cemetery where the dead can be respectfully buried and allowed to lay in peace undisturbed.
(B.3) Pay compensation to the fishermen, fish traders and local transporters whose businesses and means of livelihood have been disrupted by SEEPCO in its forceful occupation of Iko jetty and waterfront since 2017. Upon due consultation, the consultant for the fishermen, fish traders and transporters will write to SEEPCO on the matter.
Immediately carry out repairs of the damaged portion of the Community jetty and waterfront area to prevent further deterioration and suffering of local users.
Hire a piece of land at the waterfront and construct a jetty for their operations to reduce the risk posed by their activities and equipment to other users of the jetty and waterfront without safety education.
(B.4) Acquire a piece of land to open a park in the Community and to move the trucks coming in with heavy equipment and industrial materials to park in such areas for the safety of other road users and the environment.
(B.5) Take immediate action to address sanitation issues in Iko – construction of proper public toilets in strategic locations to prevent public health emergency due to indiscriminate defecation by visitors and provision of portable drinking water.
The IYDA must be empowered by SEEPCO to handle refuse collection, disposal and management in the Community. Training will be required as we intend to do this professionally to keep our youths meaningfully engaged, our Community clean and safe for all concern.
(C.1) Properly negotiate with IYDA in connection with salaries/wages and condition of services for Community workers, issuance of appointment letters, proper safety kits provided for the workers in line with best practices in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
(D.1) Review the amount paid to farmers per plot of land to reflect current inflationary realities and time value of future income that will be permanently lost to them by paying appropriate and fair compensation to them. A local NGO, estate valuer, a lawyer should be used to engage with the farmers on the matter in collaboration with the IYDA as a monitoring body.
The aspect of the land belonging to the Community affected by the road project should be valued and converted to project(s) agreed for implementation between the Community and SEEPCO.
(D.2) Review whatever negotiation and compensation that has been paid with the lawyer representing the different families in Iko who will be deprived the use of the children cemetery forever to a multimillion dollar income generating project. Iko children cemetery belongs to every family and household in Iko. Again, it is our common heritage dating back to generations. Every family has one corpse or the other buried there.
Secondly, liaise with the Community to acquire land for development of an alternative children cemetery.
(E.1) Use qualified professionals, catering company in Iko that can cook local, national and continental dishes for SEEPCO. The current untrained Community workers engaged as cooks will be duly trained, certified and paid proper salary with improved condition of service to work with the Community catering company to render service to SEEPCO.
(E.2) Allow for local participation in the on-going civil works through award of on-going supply of AGO to local and indigenous contractors. Provide opportunities for local contractors for supply of equipment and materials used in these activities. We demand negotiation and agreement of percentage on this matter not tokenism. Several late night meetings with SEEPCO in the past to reach agreement on the matter failed resulting in part of the reasons for the 52-day blockade.
(E.3) Immediately employ a base manager from Iko. At least, the back to back of the present occupant of that office should come from Iko.
A Community liaison officer from Iko should immediately be appointed by SEEPCO with an appointment letter and condition of service issued to him. The IYDA demands to have an input on the matter. Employment issues are youth related matters.
Utapate Oil Field Development Project Public Relations Officer (PRO) with a desk office in the Community should immediately be appointed from Iko by NPDC to commence work immediately. The IYDA as a key stakeholder in the Community demands an input for appointment of someone with unbiased representation.
(E.4) Stop the discrimination; employ young graduates from Iko into both SEEPCO and NPDC. It is disheartening to see how SEEPCO employs young lawyers and other professionals to work in Iko and do not consider Iko young graduates and professionals fit for the same job. It is sad and unacceptable. We demand immediate employment of at least 10 graduates in SEEPCO and NPDC from Iko Town at the first instance; and Blessing Ufford David should immediately be called to start work as base secretary in the base office in Iko to correct the unjust treatment and discrimination against her and Iko Community.
(E.5) Recruit, train and prepare at least 50 youths from Iko for engagement in the drilling, development and construction phase of the Utapate oil field development project. We will not tolerate any excuse that Iko does not have qualified manpower when the youths can as well be trained now ahead of time as part of SEEPCO’s corporate social responsibility to the Community.
(E.6) Urgently implement some confidence building projects promised the Community in 2018 to cushion the impact of NPDC/SEEPCO/NOSL’s operations of the past 3 years without an agreement – a revolving loan scheme for Iko women that will be managed by a local Community based NGO, scholarship, internal road projects, Community water scheme, renovation of Iko secondary school and construction of a cottage hospital in Iko that will also be used by the staff of SEEPCO, training of nurses and other health personnel to man the facility including the employment of a resident doctor.
(E.7) Immediately register 20 local contractors both in SEEPCO and NPDC from Iko Town. For our local participation, the IYDA request to bring in at least 2 rigs for the drilling campaign and operations as local content.
(E.8) NPDC should immediately appoint Toksaf Nigeria Limited as the Consultant to the Community.
(E.9) All oil exploration and production facilities must be sited in Iko and within Eastern Obolo. We will resist any plan and conspiracy by SEEPCO with any person or group of persons to take away any part of the oil exploration and production facilities with positive economic and social benefit as well as impact from Iko and indeed Eastern Obolo to another Community in another Local Government Area.
It will make economic sense to site the facilities in Iko near the source of raw materials to avoid all the socio-economic problems and risk this will cause SEEPCO in future in moving the facilities elsewhere outside of Eastern Obolo.
Your Excellency, some of the issues raised and the demands in this letter are not new. Our lawyers (Dr. Mudiaga Odje, SAN & Co.) have written to NPDC/SEEPCO/NOSL about them in the past vide the letter dated 5th August, 2019. Similarly, the Iko Development Committee {Iko Sustainable Development Assembly (ISDA)} and IYDA have at one point or the other also written to NPDC/SEEPCO/NOSL on some of these issues. Attached herewith are copies of these letters and other relevant documents.
*• Iko Is A Peaceful Community*
We are a peaceful Community and we deserve some respect and fair treatment. According to the 1986 United Nation General Assembly Declaration on the Right to Development and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, in Article 22, we have the right to economic, social and cultural development, a right to compensation for injury suffered as a repercussion of the operations of SEEPCO and indigenous right to benefits as indigenous people of Iko to the mineral resources under our land notwithstanding the legal and constitutional right of ownership of the federal government to mineral resources in our land being part of the Nigerian State.
*The $3.5 Billion Funding*
Support for the Development of the Utapate Oil Field
It is sad to observe that the Utapate Oil Field Development Project has an agreement, a $3.5 Billion funding support for the development of the field for the next 10 to 15 years, a yearly budgetary provision for the operations and development of the oil field, and a component of the yearly budgetary provision for Community development. The question is - where do all the budgeted funds for Community development go to at the end of the year for the past 3 to 4 years? What is the job of the Community Affairs department staff? How is their performance being judged yearly - is it for spending the budget on implementing programmes and projects in the Community or by doing nothing but spending the money sleeping in hotels and holding fruitless meetings with communities and reporting lies to NPDC on what is or not happening in the Community. This deceit must stop for a meaningful progress to be made in Company-Community relations.
*Conclusion*
Your Excellency Sir, we have fully consulted and instructed our lawyers to take appropriate action on all the issues highlighted above without further delays, if a swift response to our above demands are not met by NPDC/SEEPCO/NOSL.
We however still welcome NPDC/SEEPCO to live and work in Iko and to explore as well as to exploit oil in line with President Buhari’s vision and development agenda. Notwithstanding the above, as a law abiding organization, we shall deploy dialogue first and subsequently accentuate all legal and constitutional means locally and internationally to pursue our actions with SEEPCO on this project for the actualization of the rights of our numerous members, the voiceless, weak, marginalised and generality of the peace loving Iko people.
Respectfully yours,
………………………
Comr. Evans Toyo Izonguwu
President
Comr. Robert August Ekperikpe Secretary
Comr. Godwin David
Vice president
Comr. Morris Urang
Treasurer
Comr. Vincent Okworo
PRO
Sam Ibok
Head of Media Relations
Comr. Emmanuel Ngonsor
Organising Secretary
Felicia Vincent Sunday
Women Leader
Comr. Sunday Bill Nango
Provost II
Comr. Marcus Abraham
Asst. Organising Sec.
Comr. Stone Alfred Simeon
Welfare officer II
Comr. Uro Daniel I
Task force Chairman
Comr. Sampson Dennis I
Stakeholder
Comr. Muffat Bernard
Ex-officio
Cc:
1. The Managing Director,
National Petroleum Development Company,
Sapele Road, Benin City,
Edo State.
2. Chief Timipre Sylva,
Minister of State, Petroleum,
NNPC Towers,
Abuja.
3. Chief Festus Keyamo, SAN,
Minister of Labour and Employment,
Federal Secretariat Complex,
Phase I, Annex II, Shehu Shagari Way,
Abuja.
4. The President,
Sterling Energy Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEEPCO),
Plot 205 Abiola SegunAjayi Street, Off Muri Okunola Street,
Victoria Island, Lagos.
5. The Base Manager,
Sterling Energy Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEEPCO),
Iko Town,
Eastern Obolo LGA,
Akwa Ibom State.
6. The Village Head,
Iko Town,
Iko Clan, Eastern Obolo LGA,
Akwa Ibom State.
7. The DPO,
Divisional Police Command,
Okoroete,
Eastern Obolo LGA,
Akwa Ibom State.
8. The Area Commander
Nigerian Police Force
Eket Area Command
Eket.
9. The State Director,
Directorate of Security Service, Uyo,
Akwa Ibom State.
10. The Commissioner of Police,
State Police Command,
Ikot Akpan Abia, Uyo,
Akwa Ibom State.
11. The Commandant
The Nigerian Army,
6 Battalion,
Ibagwa, Akwa Ibom State
12. The Commandant,
The Nigerian Navy, NNS Jubilee,
Ikot Abasi,
Akwa Ibom State.
13. The Chairman,
Eastern Obolo Oil and Gas Interface Committee,
Okoroete, Eastern Obolo LGA,
Akwa Ibom State.
14. Barr. Ekpris G. Urujzian,
Chairman, Iko Sustainable Development Assembly (ISDA),
Iko Town, Eastern Obolo LGA,
Akwa Ibom State.
15. The Chairman,
Eastern Obolo Local Government Chairman Council, Okoroete,
Eastern Obolo Local Government Area,
Akwa Ibom State.
16. The Paramount Ruler,
Eastern Obolo Local Government Area, Okoroete,
Eastern Obolo Local Government Area,
Akwa Ibom State.
17. Our Lawyers,
Dr. Mudiaga Odje(SAN) & Co.,
1 Warri/Sapele Road, Warri,
Delta State.
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