Chevron Nigeria Ltd on Wednesday repossessed its Otunana Oil Producing Platform, following the withdrawal from the platform by hundreds of Ijaw women who invaded the facility on Monday.
The women seized the facility located in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta, but released it after an appeal by the President of Gbaramatu Youth Council, Mr Sheriff Mulade on Tuesday night.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the women were
protesting an oil spill which Chevron could not immediately control on Sunday night.
The spokesperson of the women, Mrs. Ati Odafe, said that it took
Chevron nearly 36 hours before it could control the spill.
“The spill affected the entire area. We could not drink from our source of water and neither could we fish,” Odafe said.
Mulade told NAN that the withdrawal from the platform was to pave way for dialogue between Chevron and the aggrieved communities and to ascertain its cause and extent of damage.
He urged Chevron to dialogue with the communities directly and not through intermediaries as was the case in 2007 when the facility was also invaded due to a similar incident.
Chevron Media Relations Officer, Mr Ibe Ojo, was not available for comment, but a reliable company source told NAN that the company was unwilling to accept that the spill occurred as a result of equipment failure.
Aug222008