The recurring violent strife between Aguleri and her sister communities in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State and Odeke in Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State over crude oil deposits in the axis flared up again recently with reports that four people from Aguleri were beheaded and several others seriously injured when youths from Odeke allegedly raided Aguleri-Otu.
Following the formal commissioning of the Orient Petroleum Resources Plc and Anambra River Oil Wells at Aguleri-Otu, as well as the proclamation by former President Goodluck Jonathan on August 30, 2012, of Anambra State as an oil-producing state in the country, Anambra State’s neighbours, notably Kogi and Enugu states, have been battling for the ownership of the stretch of land bearing the oil wells. However, hostilities between Anambra and Kogi states seem more pronounced.
The latest fracas was traced to a recent announcement by the Managing Director of Orient Petroleum Resources Plc, Mr. Sunny Okoye, that the company had struck two more oil wells and would shore up its production to 3,000 barrels per day by next month. Orient Petroleum hitherto operated Anambra River Oil Wells 1, 2 and 3 in OPL 915. In one grievous past attack, three staff of the oil company were killed, while property worth millions of naira, including 10 caterpillars and houses, were either razed, destroyed or looted when gunmen invaded Orient Petroleum refinery.
Anambra and Kogi states have been trading recriminations on who the aggressor is. The National Boundary Commission (NBC) had severally met with the authorities of the two states over who owns what and how; the warring states and communities, on their own, have tried to forge peace between themselves; and the Presidency under the government of ex-President Jonathan had intervened, especially between 2013 and last year, but peace still eludes the feuding communities. Eyewitness accounts indicate that in times of crisis, sophisticated weapons were freely deployed, notwithstanding the presence of security operatives guarding the buffer zone created by the NBC in the area to stem the clashes.
Reports credited to the NBC revealed that the boundary between Anambra and Kogi States was last delineated in 1924, when the country was under colonial rule; and therefore needed a fresh survey to determine the rightful owners of the land. Recall also that the Chairman of Orient Petroleum, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, claimed at the oil facility’s refinery commissioning that the controversy over ownership of the oil deposits had been resolved, stressing that the bulk of the deposits were within Anambra territory. But the contention of Kogi State has been that the area Orient Petroleum refers to as Anambra soil belongs to Kogi. From all indications, therefore, peace may not return to the axis except far-reaching measures are taken to douse the boundary dispute fire. The governors of Anambra and Kogi states should implore their communities pointedly in the eye of the storm to remain calm, while the dispute is being resolved, since further violence and destruction would not serve the best interests of the affected states, their people and the nation if allowed to slip out of hand.
Besides, the NBC and the Office of the Surveyor- General of the Federation should hasten up and quickly take all the necessary steps needed to fully resolve the dispute. It is almost three years that the controversy erupted. Proper demarcation and delineation of the common boundaries between the two states to the satisfaction of all parties ought to have been concluded by now, considering how sensitive oil wells have become in a country where virtually all state governments place special premium on federal revenue allocation. Indeed, we do not believe that there are no clear-cut boundaries between the feuding communities. It is instructive, however, that such demarcation or delineation cannot be achieved under a hostile atmosphere. In addition, the Federal Government must not always allow itself to be caught off guard, or for situations to get out of hand before intervening decisively.
