Bayelsa communities in dispute over oil location

CRISIS has continued to brew between Ibou community and Eminama and Dorgu-Ewoama communities all in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State over a disputed oil location situated at Ibou forest and Iyallakiri in the coastal communities.

The people of Ibou community in their submission averred that the oil location belongs to them; and warned Adikima and Abbi family to desist from unlawful claim of the oil location in the area.

Sequel to the tussle over the oil location, while Adikima and Abbi family of Eminama and Dorgu-Ewoama had written petition to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Oil/gas to restrain Ibou community from claiming ownership, in a swift reaction the Ibou family said that the petition and petitioners are misguided, mischievous, unfortunate and misleading to maliciously claim that the land/oil location belong to two principal landlord families of Adikima and Abbi  of Eminama and Dorgu-Ewoama communities.

Continuing, Ibou family described their claim as untrue and blatant lies to mislead the public and government, even as they urged government not to deal with them to avoid possible breakdown of law and order in the council pertaining to iyallakiri creek oil location.

Representative of Ibou, Chief IpogolanyoDaw-Feghawari, Elder James EasuOsomu, comrade Solomon Igabo, Edison Isele and Oworidigitere submitted that the land in question has existed for over 120 years and has never being in dispute nor disputed by anybody except for the seven members of the said families of Adikima and Abbi because they are misinformed.

Continuing, they posited that the two families acted in ignorance and greed to have laid claim to what does not belong to them, even as they alluded that they were not surprise that Adikima and Abbi did that to deceive the government and public in order to achieve ill-gotten wealth at the expense of real ancestral owners.

The Ibou community submitted that they believed in peace because it was the foundation for meaningful development in any community; and that they (the Ibou community) were ready to defend their heritage if pushed to the wall.

The Ibou family said they were aware of plan to take what belonged to them by Adikima and Abbi through the back door, but they would resist it with everything, including their blood.

To this end, the elders of Ibou community reiterated their call to government and the public to disregard the purported claim by the petitioners (Adikuma and Abbi family).