Community leaders of Twon Brass Kingdom in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State have given the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) a 30-day period to remedy violations of laws and guidelines on its operations at the Brass Export Terminal.
The Council of Chiefs, in a nine-page letter, demanded a meeting with the management to resolve issues of pollution and environmental management plan, 43 years since it started operations in Twon Brass.
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“Twon Brass Kingdom has continuously suffered an onslaught of liquid, gaseous, solid and noise pollution from your company’s operations since 1973. It would be premature to pinpoint which of the three pollutants has impacted severely on the flora and fauna in the community, but the most obvious are oil gas pollution,” the Chiefs wrote.
The Chiefs expressed disappointment with the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which did not include other organs of the Kingdom namely the elder’s council women group and the youth.
“Please note that the Twon Brass Kingdom Council of Chiefs would be compelled to use all legitimate means to seek redress if Agip fails or refuses to meet our ultimatum to engage you in these issues or attempts to frustrate the meeting”
The spokesperson for Agip, Marilia Cioni, while responding to our enquiry, dismissed the allegations, saying, “As in all the communities where it operates across the Niger Delta, the company is in constructive contact with the community’s leadership, and is working with the community, its legitimate legal representatives, and regulators to address issues of mutual concern to the parties, including environmental issues.”
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