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Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
There is an uneasy calm in Twon Brass kingdom in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State as the 30 days ultimatum given to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), over violation of laws and guidelines of Nigeria in its operations at the Brass Export Terminal, expired.
The Council of Chiefs in a nine-page letter had issued a 30-day ultimatum demanding a meeting with the management of the company to resolve issues of pollution and environmental management plan for 43 years since it started operations in Twon Brass.
“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 pin-point which of the three pollutants has impacted severely on the flora and fauna in the community but the most obvious are oil and gas pollutions,” the chiefs said.
The council of chiefs said the kingdom had borne the brunt of the value chain of export namely: separation of crude from the flow station and facilities; dumping of waste water after separation into pits in Brass terminal; discharge of untreated waste into Agip canal and emission of unused gas in liquid and gaseous forms in the Twon Brass Terminal.
They expressed disappointment with a signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) which did not include other organs of the kingdom, namely the elder’s council women group and the youths.
