Oil communities in the Assa North cluster, Ohaji-Egbema council area of Imo, have called on the Anoh Gas Processing Company (AGPC) to expedite work on the Assa-Ohoba-Obosima rural road. The call is contained in a statement signed by the spokesperson for the cluster, Duke-Bright Enyia, and made available to journalists in Owerri on Monday. The Assa North cluster circles Assa, Obile, Ochia, Awarra, Ohoba and Obosima communities. Mr Enyia said that despite entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the AGPC in its four years of existence in the area, the company had failed to complete the project that it started in 2019.
He described the road as the communities’ lone access to Owerri, the state capital and advised AGOC to transfer the construction contract to another firm since the current handlers failed to execute the project.
“The Assa-Ohoba-Obosima road that links our communities to neighbouring communities and, importantly, Owerri, has been destroyed by AGPC due to the impact of heavy trucks used for construction work on their site,” he said. He added that the community had been denied benefits enshrined in the local content policies and the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), such as access to electricity, quality healthcare and adequate infrastructure.
He further lamented the indiscriminate pollution of the environment by AGPC, which he said had negatively impacted the lands, rendering them unsuitable for farming, thus compromising the farmers’ ability to provide for their families. He decried the “selective employment practises where job opportunities meant for locals were given to fictitious individuals unknown to the community, contrary to the MoU and the provisions of the PIA.” Mr Enyia urged the AGPC to honour their agreements with the host communities, return all local content jobs and contracts to the communities, and empower the youth as part of their corporate social responsibilities. Reacting, AGPC’s Project Management Officer, Obinna Madumere, said the allegations would be addressed accordingly.
