Indigenes of Obogoro, a Bayelsa State community, have called on the state government to revoke the Obogoro shoreline protection project awarded to Nigergreen Dredging International Ltd., an indigenous dredging company.

Ada Gwegwe, an indigene and convener of the indigenous activist organisation Save Obogoro Community from Erosion Group (SOCEG), told FIJ that the corporation has done nothing to show for a project that has gulped at least N1 billion in three years.

“Residents are going homeless, and buildings and properties worth millions of naira are being washed away by the erosion,” SOCEG wrote in a letter addressed to Johnson Ogbo, the project manager of the company.

The Bayelsa State government kicked off the Obogoro Shoreline Protection Project, formerly a river training project, in 2021 to prevent erosion in the community.

However, FIJ can confirm that there has been no significant progress in the three years since the flag off.

In July, after a visit to Obogoro, FIJ reported how the community was nearing extinction as indigenes waited on the completion of the erosion prevention project. Shortly after publication, Gbaranbiri Iselema, the state’s commissioner for environment, visited the site alongside Ogbo, whom he instructed to ensure the project got completed before the rainy season.

Five months later, indigenes report no significant improvements or continued activity by Nigergreen Dredging International Ltd.

READ ALSO: Bayelsa Community Obogoro Faces Extinction While Awaiting Govt’s Erosion Prevention Project

Consequently, SOCEG has written to Ogbo, stating their intentions to carry out a peaceful protest against Nigergreen Dredging International Ltd. and to ask the state government to withdraw the shoreline protection contract from them if they do not:

1. Communicate when they intend to return to work to complete the project.
2. Communicate the due date for project completion.
3. Agree to complete the project before leaving when they resume construction activities.
4. Assure the indigenes of doing all it takes to stop the erosion of their community.

FIJ was unable to reach the project manager of Nigergreen Dredging International Ltd. but did speak with Francis Chukwuibem, an official of the company. Chukwuibem, however, declined to give any information except we visited physically and underwent “clearance from the DSS, Niger Green, and the Ministry of Environment”.

He refused to acknowledge whether they had received a letter from SOCEG or not. He also did not divulge why the company stopped work on the project and failed to execute it as the commissioner instructed in July, and he declined to state the stipulated delivery timeline for the project.

“These are classified information,” he said during a phone call, adding that he would not respond to any more inquiries if they weren’t made physically with all the appropriate parties present.

In an attempt to find out if the ministry of environment was aware that the project had been put on hold against the commissioner’s orders, FIJ called Iselema. He did not answer or return the calls. At press time, he had also not responded to a text message sent to him.