Metro

GMoU: Protest As Bayelsa Oil Communities Lay Siege To Agip

Published

4 years ago

November 2, 2021

Protesting residents of Isoko- speaking communities in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, have vowed to shut down the Samabiri/Buseni cluster location housing nine oil wells and operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, in their area.

The villagers alleged that the multinational company refused to keep to the Global Memorandum of Understanding, GMoU, reached with its host communities.

Protesters, including men, women, and youths of Osekwenike, Abuetor, and Osifo communities barricaded the access road leading to the Agip-owned facility and disrupted operations to press home their demands.

Steered by the leaders of the three communities, they carried placards which bore different inscriptions such as: “Agip give us our link road,” “Agip obey the directive of the deputy governor on the surveillance matter,” “We are tired of staying in darkness in our communities, “Agip employ our youths” among others.

Presidents-general of the three communities, Mr. Lovely Agwor (Abuetor), Mr. Anthony Okorie (Osekwenike) and Mr. Benjamin Aghoghovia (Osifo), in a joint statement, noted that they decided to embark on a peaceful protest after all efforts to reach Agip for dialogue failed.

The community leaders noted that they had written several letters seeking audience with the oil giant through the Manager, Stakeholders Management and Community Development Division, to address their demands but Agip had continued to rebuff the communities’ efforts to have a round table discourse on the way forward.

They recalled that in separate letters dated June 23, 2021 and October 14, 2021, addressed to the General Manager, District, Nigeria Agip Oil Company through the Manager, Stakeholders Management and Community Development Division, the communities forewarned about its plan to shut down the oil facility if Agip refused to listen to them.

“Some of our demands include that Agip should assign the construction of our link road which shall connect the three communities in line with our GMoU for 2001/2006 to the recommended contractor. No implementation, no production.

“To mobilize the contractor to site for the completion of our gas turbine project in line with our MoU 2001/2006. To assign the surveillance contract to a trusted indigenous contractor in Bayelsa State or to our recommended contractor and payment of two months’ salary arrears to our community. No implementation, no production.

“To respect our GMoU which comprises nine communities namely: Osekwenike, Abuetor, Osifo, Agbere, Odoni, Kaiama, Isoni Ossiama and Ogbunugbene,” they said.

The aggrieved communities are also demanding a monthly supply of 45,000 liters of diesel to the communities which Agip stopped over six months ago, for no just cause thereby subjecting them to acute darkness, while the multinational company and its staff enjoy uninterrupted electricity at the cluster location housing nine oil wells producing thousands of barrels of crude oil daily.

They used the medium to call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri and the relevant authorities to prevail on Agip to do the needful, vowing not to vacate the oil site if their demands are not met.

Reacting, an official of NAOC, who refused to be named, simply said the matter and the demands will be resolved by the appropriate authority.

(VANGUARD)

Metro

Auto-crash Claims 2 Lives On Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

Published

2 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

The Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, TRACE, on Friday confirmed that two people died in a lone accident around Oremeji Bus Stop on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The Corps’ spokesperson, Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abeokuta.

Akinbiyi said the accident, involving a Mazda bus with registration number YNF 414 XN, occurred at about 1:30 a.m.

He explained that the two occupants of the vehicle, the driver and conductor, both adult males, died on the spot, adding that no injury was recorded.

According to him, eyewitnesses said the bus lost control due to speeding, hit a road barrier, and somersaulted.

Akinbiyi further said the vehicle, which was conveying live chicks, had been towed by the Ibafo Motor Traffic Division of the Police for further investigation.

He added that the remains of the victims had been deposited at the Divine Touch Hospital morgue in Ibafo by operatives of TRACE, the police, and the Ogun State Emergency Services (OGSAES).

He noted that traffic was briefly affected during the rescue operation but was later restored through the efforts of TRACE and the police.

Metro

Court Sentences Man To Death For Killing Son

Published

15 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

The Kano State High Court has sentenced Abubakar Alhaji Sabo to death by hanging after finding him guilty of killing his newborn son.

The Kano State Government prosecuted Sabo before the court on charges of culpable homicide and causing grievous harm.

He was accused of force-feeding the infant with a local insecticide known as ‘fiya-fiya’, resulting in the child’s death.

Sabo killed the baby after the mother, his girlfriend, refused to obey his instruction to kill the child to avoid the shame of fathering a child out of wedlock.

Following the incident, he was also found guilty of striking the girlfriend’s father on the head with a brick after he caught Sabo poisoning the baby.

During the trial, the prosecution counsel, Barrister Safiya Yalwati Yahaya, presented three witnesses, while the defendant testified in his own defence.

After reviewing the evidence presented by both parties, Justice Aisha Yau, who presided over the case, found him guilty of infanticide and sentenced him to death by hanging.

The court also imposed an additional three-year prison sentence for causing grievous harm.

Metro

Nine Kwara Victims: Kidnappers Insist On N300m Ransom

Published

15 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

No progress has been recorded on the bandits demand for N300m ransom for the release of nine victims abducted in Adanla community of Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara state on Boxing Day, December 26, 2025.

Coordinator of the Joint Security Watch for Kwara South Senatorial District, Zubair Olaitan, disclosed this on Wednesday.

According to DAILY POST, the bandits have so far made three contacts with the community leaders that “if the N300m is not paid, the victims will not be released.”

The bandits seized the nine victims in an attempt to abduct the King of the community, and his wife on Boxing Day, but failed.

The King, David Olarinoye, was away to Igbaja town for a programme when the armed bandits invaded his community.

The bandits, however, later seized nine other victims in the community and marched them to the bush.

While seven victims were abducted at the palace of the King, two others were captured on their way to the bush.

Following the abduction, the bandits demanded a N300m for the release of the abducted victims, resisting any negotiations for reduction of the ransom.