Delegates to the National Conference representing the Niger-Delta region and other oil-engendering states on Monday in Abuja raised the alarm over plans by the oil-engendering communities to cease the operation of all the channels of oil engenderment in the region over what they called threat of earthquake.
A former Governor of Bayelsa State and one of the delegates representing the region, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, raised the issue when he called for a point of information during the resumption of plenary.
He told the conference that the leadership of oil communities in the Niger-Delta had visited him with a mandate to “deliver the information to the confab leadership.”
Alamieyeseigha verbalized, “The leadership of oil-engendering communities visited me at the weekend and have asked me to convey this information to the management and the delegates of this conference that in the past 58 years, a minimum of 1.8 to 2m barrel of crude oil is being extracted from their land on a quotidian substratum.
“The consequence is that they have commenced experiencing earth forms of kineticism in their environment and the trepidation that there is going to be earthquake or tsunami very anon in their land.
“In other jurisdictions, when this volume of oil is abstracted, liquid of same gravity is being injected to equalize or stabilize the geology of the area. In recent times, there was gas flaring at the coast of Balyesa State for over a month; the heat was so much that all the villagers were evacuated and for one month the oil companies could not stop the gas flaring.
“So, they fear that they don’t have the capacity to withstand any earthquake in that environment and that I should apprise you all that they may take the option, I reiterate, they will take the option of shutting down engenderment in those areas till concrete acquiescent is reached with the oil companies.”
But responding, a licit practitioner, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), verbalized the Federal Government ran into quandaries when the United States of America, a major buyer of Nigerian crude oil, ceased buying oil from Nigeria
