By DENNIS EREZI

Niger Delta Congress (NDC) has warned investors against participating in the bid for 57 marginal oil fields in their region.

“We are aware that the announced bidding process is just another means to enrich the elites of the major ethnic groups of this country at our expense, since very few Niger Deltans can be said to have the means to partake in it,” NDC said in a statement by its spokesperson Adokiye Oyagiri.

“The Niger Delta peoples wish to inform those who would be tempted to partake that they do so at their own risk, as the Niger Delta will resist any attempt to mine oil from our land using whatever means available to us.”

The warning issued by the NDC is in opposition to the Nigerian Government’s move to auction the

57 marginal oil fields in the Niger Delta region after it recently commenced the bidding process.

Marginal oil fields are areas where oil has been discovered but not commercially viable to the owners. Based on extant regulations, the land could be reclaimed and auctioned to oil companies by Nigeria president if left undeveloped for 10 years.

Nigeria’s state for petroleum resources minister Timipre Sylva said the government was already preparing for a major licensing round for bidding individuals and companies.

The NDC spokesperson said the people of the region have been “steadily poisoned to death by activities of international oil companies and their local Joint Venture partners, in collaboration with their foreign home governments and the major ethnic groups of the Nigerian state” who have no stake in their environment.

Oyagiri stated that the Niger Delta peoples are being left with no option than to take “drastic measures” which includes down of oil exploration activities in the region to ensure their survival.

He said the Niger Delta peoples are not in support and do not approve of the auctioning of their resources.

The NDC spokesperson called on the people of the region to begin to organise themselves in accordance with their purpose of taking possession of their environment. (The Guardian)

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