OGONI GROUP GIVES FG 24-HOUR ULTIMATUM TO REINSTATE SACKED HYPREP PC
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A group of young people in Ogoni, Rivers State, have given the federal government until Monday, the 24th, to restore Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, the Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), who was fired.
This directive follows the announcement on Saturday by the presidency of a new HYPREP chief, Dr. Olufemi Adekanbi, to succeed Prof. Zabbey, an Ogoni native.
If the federal government does not return Professor Zabbey, the gang is threatening to destroy all of the project sites in Ogoni.
Among others, leaders of the Association of Ogoni Martyrs, the Ogoni Youths Federation, the Ogoni Students Association Worldwide, and the National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP) voiced their displeasure on Sunday. They contend that Ogoni, who started the project on their own initiative and without federal support, has suitable people to oversee it.
The student leaders argued that they would be forced to close down all project locations if Prof. Zabbey, whom they felt was doing a good job, was not reinstated by the presidency.
The national president of Ogoni Students Worldwide, Daniel Karakpon, and the president of NYCOP, Brinuazor Emmanuel, both expressed their determination to oppose the return of Dr. Olufemi Adekambi, the recently hired HYPREP Project Coordinator, who is scheduled to begin work on Monday after starting on Saturday, July 13.
In the meantime, the vicinity of Stadium Road, Port Harcourt, where the office is situated, is presently blocked off by men and officers of the Rivers State police command.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently declared a state of emergency over the production of crude oil, which coincides with the threat.
Nigeria’s crude oil production has been on the low in recent years, as the country has been unable to meet its Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries production quota of 1.5 million barrels per day.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, blamed the low production on pipeline vandalism and oil theft.
According to the Monthly Oil Market Report for July by OPEC, quoting direct sources, Nigeria’s oil production for June is 1.276 million barrels per day (bpd). The country’s oil production had fallen from 1.28mbpd in April to 1.25mbpd in May.
The Federal Government gets about 80 per cent of its revenue from crude oil exports.
The HYPREP cleanup in Ogoni has been a major source of recent controversy, as major oil companies such as Shell have been kicked out of the community due to the inability to adequately clean up decades of oil spills, which had affected the livelihood of the communities.
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