By 
… Issues quit notice to refinery
Bisi ABASS
Ekit community, drawn from Eket and Esit Eket Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State said BUA’s refusal to recognize them as rightful owners of the land was an invitation to hostility.
The has therefore, issued a quit notice to operators of the proposed BUA Refinery.
The proposed refinery with a BPD capacity of 200,000 is said to have been identified, recognized and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ibeno Local Government Area to site a refinery in the area.
Members of the aforementioned community drawn from the sister Local Government Areas of Eket and Esit Eket, in a press conference organised by Itid Afigh Ekid Union in Eket on Wednesday said the investor’s refusal to recognize them as rightful owners of the land was an invitation to hostility.
In a statement signed by Obong Samuel Atang, former Chairman of Eket Local Government Area and Manfred Ekpe Esq, Legal Adviser among others, the people of Ekit and Esit Eket Local Government Areas maintained that the proposed land for the refinery belongs to Ekit nation.
The release frowned that BUA Group, owners of the proposed refinery, signed an MoU with the Ibeno community on August 22 2021, without the consent of Ekid nation, a situation which had provoked restiveness within Ekid and Ibeno communities.
“We are now ready to chase away any investors till justice is done, this is a notice to intending investors all over the world who have interest in establishing on the Akwa Ibom Atlantic Coast.
“We hereby declare that any foreign and local investors who do not recognize Eket and Esit Eket local government areas as landlords to any industry proposed for the Stubb’s Creek should pack and leave the area.
“This is a quit notice to Bua group and we shall follow up this quit notice as appropriate. In the interim, the foreign partners of Bua Refinery are hereby given the notice to pull out of the partnership should the company refuse to recognize Eket and Esit Eket local government areas as landlords,” the release stated.
The release called on Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom not to allow any part of Eket and Esit Eket territory to be ceded to any other people as rumoured during the ongoing remapping of Akwa Ibom state.
“We hereby call on His Excellency, governor of Akwa Ibom, that if the rumours are true, no part of Eket and Esit Eket territory must be ceded to any other people as this will never stand.
“We call in very strong terms, that the state Surveyor General and Attorney General of the state and all relevant authorities, obey court decision and orders on this land,” the statement stated.
It could be recalled that the BUA Group entered an agreement with the Akwa Ibom state government to establish a 200,000 BPD capacity refinery in the state due to the huge availability of raw materials and its proximity to export petroleum products to regional countries on August 22, 2021.
Comments