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The host communities of the Samabri/Biseni Cluster Location, specifically Osekwuenike, Osifo, and Abuetor in the Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, have raised concerns regarding what they described as a false claim made by the Asamabiri Community, asserting co-host status to the Samabri/Biseni Cluster location.
In a statement on Saturday jointly signed by the three Presidents General — Mr. Anthony Okorie of Osekwuenike Community, Comrade Benjamin Aghoghovia of Osifo Community, and Comrade Bartholomew Uti of Abuetor Community—along with other key stakeholders, the communities expressed their disbelief at Asamabiri’s decision to make such claims.
They highlighted the long-standing peace and inter-marital ties they have enjoyed with the Asamabiri Community over the years.
The statement clarified the communities share a clearly defined natural boundary known as the Ogborogbo Canal with Asamabiri, a boundary that has not been disputed in the past.
The host communities voiced their discontent over Asamabiri’s actions on October 2, 2024, when they mobilised to protest on land belonging to the host communities, where an oil firm is situated.
They claimed co-host status and cited ’22 years of neglect’ as their rationale for the protest.
The leaders expressed that if this situation is not addressed, it could potentially lead to an unwarranted inter-communal crisis, which they seek to avoid at all costs.
The communities are calling upon the Bayelsa State Government, corporate entities, and the general public to disregard the unfounded claims made by the Asamabiri community and recognise the historical rights of the host communities.
The people of Asamabiri community of Sagbama had protested alleged decades of neglect by the oil firm operating in their community.
Asamabiri, said to be a co-host community to Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) facility in Sagbama LGA had appealed to the federal and state governments to intervene in their plight which had lingered for over 22 years.
The placard-carrying protesters had claimed that over the years, they were denied of their statutory benefits and social amenities by the oil firm.
Speaking on behalf of the community, its Paramount Ruler, Chief Joseph Odoni, had said the community members protested over the neglect at the firm’s facility recently.
The monarch had said all necessary steps taken by the oil bearing community to resolve the impasse had been futile, alleging that the oil major had been favourable to another community, its co-hosts.
The community leadership had also called on Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the apex Ijaw socio-cultural organisation, Ijaw National Congress and its youth body, Ijaw Youth Council to address the injustice the company had subjected Asamabiri to in the last two decades.