The Indigenes and families of land owners of Emoajovo-Ekakpamre and Akpamre-Ekakpamre communities have approached the court to retrieve 97 hectares of lands it donated to Tenoil to build a petrochemical company.
This is contained in statement signed on behalf of the communities by Mr Austin Ubido, Executive Chairman, Emoajovo-Ekakpamre community and Chief Michael Akponokan for Akpamre-Ekakpamre community.
The communities said a total of 150 hectares of farm lands was given to Tenoil to establish a petrochemical plant which the communities and Tenoil entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“We the indigenes who are the land owning families of Emoajovo-Ekakpamre and Akpamre-Ekakpamre communities in Ughelli South LGA, Delta State, wish to draw the attention of the general public to the breach of an MoU we entered into with Tenoil to build a petrochemical plant on our land, approximately 150 Hectares of farmland at Emoajovo-Ekakpmre and Akpamre-Ekakpamre communities in Ughelli South LGA, Delta State by Tenoil Petroleum and Energy Services Ltd.
This action on their part is likely to cause breach of the peace.
They said Tenoil has refused to implement terms of the Memorandum of Understanding dated 9th August, 2021 made between the company and Representatives of Emoajovo-Ekakpamre and Akpamre-Ekakpamre communities and others by refusing/failing to establish an agreed petro-chemical plant on the said land.
“The land is the investment of the two communities because Tenoil did not pay any money for the 150 Hectares they want to use in building the petrochemical plant.
“By the clear terms of the MoU Tenoil undertakes/agreed to set up a petrochemical plant in the 150 Hectares and in return give jobs and contracts to the people of the two communities.
“But when they came to erect a fence last year they neither gave us jobs nor contracts. Rather Tenoil brought a contractor from Agbor to do the fencing of the land. Now they have come to bulldoze even when the matter is in court.
“They have failed or refused to implement the terms of agreement contained in the MoU. We are using this medium to reach out to the public because all efforts to get them to come to terms with the terms of the MoU have proved abortive.
“The company is yet to set up the plant instead it merely graded the conners round and erected a fence round the land and did not also give any jobs, scholarship etc to any member of the communities.
“As a result we went to court at Otu-Jeremi (Suit No. HCG/36/2022), and we are urging the court to set aside the MoU and we filed motion on notice for injunction. We are asking the court to let us have back out 97 Hectares of land.
“Despite the fact that the matter is in court, the company proceeded to bulldoze the land in order to pre empt the court.
“We are a peace loving people that’s why we have opted for court solution.
Our communities own approximately 97 hectares of the land. While the other hectares belong to other two communities from Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State”, the statement added.
Efforts made by Nigerian Tribune to reach the management of Tenoil for response proved abortive as they did not reply to the mail sent to their official email
info@tenoilenergy.com as the time this report was being filed.