Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom this
week summoned the paramount traditional
ruler of Ibeno community, Effiong Archianga,
and the area’s local government chairman,
Henry Nko, and ordered them to reverse the
community’s decision to reject relief material
provided by ExxonMobil.
SaharaReporters gathered that an infuriated
Akpabio, who has acquired significant
business interests in Mobil’s oil fields in
exchange for ‘protecting’ the oil firm, forced
the community to accept and distribute the
relief material or face his wrath.
The Ibeno community hosts Mobil Producing
Nigeria (MPN), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil. The
community had turned down relief material
from the oil firm meant to cushion the effects
of the recent oil spill that ravaged the area.
Members of the community were irked by a
clause in the firm’s letter accompanying the
material. The clause stated that the items did
not mean that the oil firm was liable for the
spill.
Following Mr. Akpabio’s stern directive, the
traditional ruler of Ibeno as well as the area’s
council boss immediately complied. They gave
directives to their aides to distribute the items
to the 26 villages in the Ibeno community.
John Etim, a community leader in the
Iwuokpom fishing settlement, said many
members of the community were dismayed
by the order to accept and distribute items
against their wish.
“We returned these things on many grounds,
but we learnt that our leaders were forced to
accept them by the state government,” said
Mr. Etim. He added: “That is our handicap as
minorities that provide wealth to the state
and country.” The community leader
disclosed that his village “received two bags
of rice, one quarter bag of rice, six packets of
biscuits, 10 pieces of wax cloth, and 48 tins of
milk.” He asked, “Given the size of this
community where do you start from?”
ExxonMobil provided the relief items following
an oil spill on November 9 that devastated the
community. One source told SaharaReporters
that several thousand barrels of crude oil were
discharged into the Atlantic, but that the
extent of the spill was grossly under-reported
to Nigeria’s oil industry regulators who
depend on the operators for data.
The oil firm’s cover-up caused a stir at the
National Assembly when an ExxonMobil
executive, Mark Ward, appeared last week
before the House of Representatives
committee on the environment. An embattled
Mr. Ward was confronted with testimonies
from the host communities contradicting his
report of minimal spillage. He had to apologize
on live television for the firm’s shortcomings
in handling the spill and misinforming the
legislature.
Sam Ayadi, chairman of the Akwa Ibom
chapter of the Artisan Fishermen Association,
told SaharaReporters that the fishermen had
nothing to do with the so-called relief
material.
“The so-called relief materials sent to the
communities had no room to accommodate
non-indigenes of the communities who were
also affected by the spill. We have indigenes
and non-indigenes of Ibeno in our midst. So
what happens to non-indigenes when the
materials were to be shared amongst the
villages?
“Moreover the materials they sent did not
include fishing implements and accessories to
offer relief for our losses not to talk of the
deprivation we have suffered for the past one
month since the spill occurred,” said Mr.
Ayadi.
Several traditional rulers in the area had
mandated the paramount ruler to call Paul
Arinze, ExxonMobil’s General Manager in
charge of Public and Government Affairs, and
express the community’s reservations about
the firm’s so-called relief offer. Several of
those traditional rulers told SaharaReporters
that they were dismayed about the state
governor’s pressure on them to accept the
firm’s insulting and inadequate provisions.
One angry village leader said that the
governor’s use of crude threat and
intimidation on the community “has pushed
us to the wall.”
“It has become abundantly clear that Akwa
Ibom government led by Akpabio has taken
sides with the oil company against the oil-
bearing communities. Otherwise what is the
point of using force and threat to force us to
accept a so-called gift?” he said.
“The conspiracy between the government
and the management of Mobil against us will
not stand and we shall one day take our
destinies in our hands. With God on our side,
it shall not be long from now,” said the village
head. He added: “If they are claiming that
they are not liable for the spill, why then are
they doing this?”
