THE Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has invited Itsekiri and Ijaw leaders in Delta State to a meeting in Abuja tomorrow over the contentious ownership of the $16 billion Export Processing Zone, EPZ, project site.
President Goodluck Jonathan abruptly cancelled his visit to Delta State to perform the ground breaking ceremony of the project, renamed Delta Gas City by the Federal Government, on Friday, following a threat by the Ijaw of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area to unleash violence if he came without first resolving their grievances. It was the second time Jonathan cancelled the ground breaking ceremony, having done so in June, based on the same reasons advanced by the Ijaw.
Secretary of the Leaders of Thought, Mr. Edward Ekpoko, confirmed to Codewit Correspondent, last night, that he was aware to tomorrow’s meeting. An Ijaw leader, who confirmed that he was already in Abuja for the meeting, said, “The meeting is summoned by the Group Managing Director, GMD, of NNPC. They are saying they did not know that Ijaw actually own part of the land acquired by the Delta State government for the project and they did not even know that there is crisis of this dimension over the project site until we protested, last Wednesday.”
The Federal Government, in a statement, last Thursday, formally announcing the postponement of the ground breaking ceremony of the Gas Revolution Industrial Park, GRIP, said the decision was taken by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, after consultations with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State. Codewit Correspondent was reliably informed that Uduaghan, who had stated 24 hours earlier that nobody could stop Jonathan from coming to Delta to perform the ground breaking ceremony, was taken aback at the postponement contrary to the claim that the decision was taken after consultations with him.
The Ajuwaoyiboyami of Warri Kingdom, Chief Ayiri Emami, alias Akulagba, lambasted Jonathan for abandoning the ground breaking ceremony because of threat by some Ijaw ex-militants. He said, “The truth must be told that Itsekiri people can no longer fold our arms and watch Government Ekpemupolo in collaboration with some of his Ijaw brothers and a few Itsekiri dissidents continue to take what God has given to us.”
