The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Oando Nigeria, Agip Oil, and the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission have been sued by Omoku clan members in the Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State for allegedly failing to comply with the Petroleum Industry Act.
The plaintiffs claim in their lawsuit that Agip, Oando Plc, and NNPCL have violated the PIA by not interacting with the host communities directly as required by law.
The plaintiffs, Stanley Ohia, Victor Eke, Daniel Woko, Ugochukwu Adah, Famous Clinton, and Ekeukwu Pureheart, are all members of the Omoku Communities Youth Leaders Forum.
The lawsuits, which were submitted to a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, require Agip, Oando Plc, and NNPCL to abide by the PIA by interacting with the impacted communities directly as required by law.
It reads, “The Federal Government has issued multiple directives instructing Agip and other oil firms to recognize Omoku communities as host communities. However, these companies have refused to acknowledge the communities or fulfill their corporate social responsibilities.
“We demand the immediate recognition of each community in the Omoku cluster as individual host communities, as stipulated by the PIA.
“We call for direct engagement between oil companies and local leaders of each community—not through proxies—as the law recognizes only the leadership of the individual affected community.
“We also demand the full implementation of the Host Community Development Trust under the PIA. Each community in the Omoku cluster must have their duly elected member on the management and advisory committees of the Host Community Development Trust, along with their Fund Matrix and Community Development Plan (CDP).”
The youths’ annoyance was conveyed by OCYLF Coordinator-General Ekeukwu Pureheart, who said, “For over five decades, our land has been exploited while we suffer. The Petroleum Industry Act was supposed to change things, yet Oando, NNPCL, Agip, and others continue to act as though the law does not apply to them. We are in court to ensure that justice prevails.”