Militants Turn Heat on ExxonMobil, Agip, Total

Oil companies with operational bases mainly in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states may be next on the firing line as Ijaw militia, who have been operating in the waterways of Warri, Delta State in the last three months, are planning eastward attacks on facilities in the area.
Companies prominent in this area are Italian oil firm, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC); US oil major, ExxonMobil and French firm, Total.
A militia group, which styled itself �Martyrs Brigade� yesterday issued a 21-day ultimatum to Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited to pay compensation to Ijaw communities affected by a1998 oil spillage from the company�s crude oil pipeline offshore Akwa Ibom State, failing which it would face �massive attacks�.
In the statement circulated online, the Martyrs Brigade, which said it was acting on behalf of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and other groups, said the deadline to Mobil followed the refusal of the company to heed earlier appeals.
“This spillage was a catastrophe! Hundreds have lost their lives. Tens of thousands have lost their livelihoods. People have become impoverished. Communities have become uninhabitable, yet Exxon Mobil has continued to pay deaf ears to the pitiable plight of a now pained and severely exploited people,� said the group.
“In line with this painful reality and on behalf of the Martyrs Brigade, The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and all other nationalist and freedom fighting units in the Niger Delta, we hereby declare a 21-day grace period for Exxon Mobil to honour its obligation to compensate every community that was affected by that catastrophic spillage of January 1998.
�At the expiration of this grace period and with the failure and continued insistence of ExxonMobil to dishonour its obligation to communities that they have so destroyed�we shall go after every iota of Exxon Mobil’s operations in the Niger Delta without mercy.�
Since MEND began its insurgence last December, attacks on oil facilities and personnel had been restricted to the west (Warri) of the Niger Delta with Shell, Nigeria�s biggest oil producer, forced to close down its operations in the area and shutting in some 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production.
Chevron, another notable operator in the area, is believed to be losing over 100,000 bpd, including the 13,000 bpd lost two weeks ago.
The Minster of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru said on Wednesday that Nigeria is currently experiencing a production shortfall of over 500,000 bpd, which translates to revenue losses of $30 million (N3.9 billion) for Nigeria and its joint venture partners.
Attacks on the oil firms based in the east of the Niger Delta, may further worsen the production and revenue losses. Mobil, Total and Agip account for a total of 1.1 million bpd of oil production.
It would be recalled that youths from the Eket community staged a protest at Mobil�s Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT), where the company produces more than 600,000 bpd of oil and condensates.
Although Mobil said there were no disruptions to exports, analysts yesterday feared that it might be a signal of what to expect in the near future.
Meanwhile, community leaders in Akwa Ibom State have condemned the invasion of Mobil�s Qua Iboe Terminal in Ibeno by youths which they said were from outside the state, describing the action as aggression and threat to the people of the state.
According to the leaders, “this action by these youths who are not from our state was an act of aggression and threat to both MPN and the entire people of Akwa Ibom State.�
In his reaction, one of the Youth Leaders from Esit Eket, Mr. Sammy Eshiet told THISDAY in Calabar that it was absolutely irresponsible on the part of the invading youths on the oil facilities, adding that the youths irrespective of where they come from should follow due process.
Said Eshiet: �If anybody feels aggrieved as a result of the 1998 oil spillage which several groups were compensated should go to court for a redress rather than resorting to arm-twisting strategy”.
He, however, advised youths of Eket, Esit Eket, Onna and Ibeno not to be deceived to destroy what is their own by stranger elements.
Another Community Leader, Senator Etang Umoyo also frowned at the action of the youths, stressing that Akwa Ibom State has been rated a peaceful state over the years.
Umoyo continued �we take strong exception to that, after all, they don�t have more stakes in the MPN than us.�
On whether there was collaboration with the youths from the state to carry the act, he said that it could be possible some youths from the State collaborated with them to do the act: �I want to suspect that our people may be in the know, but if so, that should be their own baby and not to solicit the assistance of others as it portrays them as cowards.�
In the 1998 oil spill, Mobil paid over N2 billion as compensation to various persons and groups that were affected.

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