Ogbotobo Community Cries Out Over Alleged Decades Of Marginalisation In Bayelsa

The youths of Ogbotobo Community, operating under the auspices of ‘Concerned Youths of Ogbotobo Federated Communities’ in Bayelsa State, have issued a formal demand for the immediate evacuation of Jomason’s House-Boat located at Agbayama in Bayelsa State within two weeks.

In a statement signed by their spokesman, Comr. Akeme Moses, the Concerned Youths voiced their dissatisfaction with what they perceived as oppression, intimidation, and threats posed by Mr. Jomason over the last thirty years since his company’s operations began in the Ogbotobo oil field.

The youth alleged that Mr. Jomason has been covertly awarding local content contracts to his own firm, allegedly collaborating with officials from Shell, now known as Renaissance, while overlooking the capabilities of indigenous contractors who could fulfil these contracts.

The statement read in parts, “Mr. Jomason, who is not a member of our community but originates from the distant Ayama community, has exploited his influence within ‘Shell’ (now ‘Renaissance’) to secure lucrative contracts without consulting our community leadership. We are alarmed by his practice of secretly awarding local content jobs to himself, devoid of competitive bidding or adherence to necessary qualifications.”

The Ogbotobo youths further noted that, “Now the most painful act is that, the community leadership looked critically into this issue and recently recommended an Indigenous contractor for the houseboat job; however, Renaissance officials, in collusion with Jomason, have inexplicably refused to accept this recommendation, prioritizing their own interests.”

They criticised Mr. Jomason for maintaining military security responsibilities at the Ogbotobo flow-station and the Trans-Ramos pipeline for three decades without contributing to community development, all while recently awarding himself a military houseboat contract at Agbayama. “He has been the one handling the military security job in the Ogbotobo flow-station and the Trans-Ramos pipeline in the last thirty(30) years without rendering any cooperate social responsibility to the Ogbotobo federation and has recently secretly awarded a military houseboat job to himself at the Agbayama location,” they revealed.

Expressing their demands clearly, the youths stated, “We call upon the general public and relevant authorities to ensure that Mr. Jomason and the officials of Renaissance to vacate the houseboat at Agbayama within two week. Should they fail to comply, we will be compelled to take matters into our own hands. Because Mr. Jomason and his cohorts in Renaissance cannot continue to enjoy juicy contracts whilst indigenous contractors wallow in poverty and hunger against the local content act.”

The youths, however, urged the Bayelsa State Government, the Federal Government, the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Inspector General of Police, and the Operation Delta Safe (ODS) to ensure that Mr. Jomason and Renaissance were held accountable for any potential unrest in Ogbotobo resulting from this escalating tension.