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Delta women shut three NPDC flow stations

By Chido Okafor (Warri) and Ann Godwin (Port Harcourt)
16 August 2019   |   4:10 am
Angry women from 10 communities in Warri South-West Council, Delta State, yesterday shut three flow stations operated by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI

Why gas flaring has continued, by HOMEF
Angry women from 10 communities in Warri South-West Council, Delta State, yesterday shut three flow stations operated by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

The flow stations in Odidi, Batan and Jones Creek have a total production capacity of about 90,000 barrels per day. Their shut-in means Nigeria is losing 90,000 barrel per day.

Odidi, Batan, Kokodiagbene, Kantu Okenrokoko, Omadino, Ekpemu, Akpatagbegbe, Gbokodo Itsekiri and Ajuju communities shut the stations before 7a.m yesterday.

Some of the leaders from Odidi, Batan and Jones Creek host communities, including Beke Timinimi, Jackson Timiyan and Isaac Akasa, said they had been neglected for long by NPDC/Neconde Consortium and vowed that the oil platforms would not be allowed to operate until their demands were met.

The women said they were prepared to sleep at the entrances of the flow stations and would not allow any of the firms’ staff access until their leaders gave order.

When contacted yesterday, a senior staff of NPDC, who pleaded anonymity, told The Guardian that the situation was being investigated and that the firm would issue a statement in due course.

Meanwhile, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has said that gas flaring continued unabated due to no serious attempt by government to stop it.

Director of the ecological think tank, Nnimmo Bassey, who described gas flaring as ecological corruption, said if the government was determined to end gas flaring, it should ensure that companies flaring it pay the true economic value of the waste.

The environment expert stated this in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday at the Youth Climate Incubation Hub organised for youths of the South South zone by the Federal Ministry of Environment, with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Bassey said, “If we see that stopping gas flaring will improve agricultural productivity, increase the health of the people and boost quality of infrastructure, then we need to push for its stoppage.

“Gas flaring is ecological misbehaviour and the companies responsible for this misbehaviour should be made to stop this type of ecological corruption.”

He noted that stopping gas flaring requires a lot of investment and commitment, but regretted that government had not shown enough commitment to end it.

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