Deal directly with us, Oleh landlords tell Agip

By Ochuko Akuopha

OLEH—Nine landlords in Oleh, Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State, have appealed to the Federal Government to mandate Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, to deal directly with them in transactions relating to oil exploration in their land.

They alleged that efforts by the newly-elected representatives of their families to introduce themselves to the company and to effect the necessary changes in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, to reflect their names were frustrated at NAOC, Okpai Gas Plant in Kwale.

The landlords said they were told that the company had no business with them and that all their dealings were with the community through the Community Development Committee, CDC.

The landlords, in a statement by their lawyer, Mr. Richard Akpoghalino, said: “In Isoko nation, which is one of the ethnic groups in Nigeria, communal ownership of land is alien to all communities.

“Under the Isoko Native Law and Custom applicable to Oleh community, every transaction bordering on land must require the consent of the head of the family to remain valid.”

Contacted, President General of Oleh community, Chief James Obiuwo, said the community had no dealings with Agip and has no hand in what the families have been doing with the company for years.

On his part, Chairman of Oleh CDC, Elder Johnson Ossoh, said he had, on July 11, formally introduced the families’ representatives “to the people concerned.”

 

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