Energy
Re-‘Abduction’ Of 14 Journalists in Oporoza – TOMPOLO
BY HIGH CHIEF GOVERNMENT EKPEMUPOLO
However, it has become necessary to make clarifications in the face of the deliberate distortion of facts by some mischief-makers intent on denigrating my person and questioning my integrity before the larger society. More so, I am persuaded by the fact of my experience as a crusader for equity, fairness and justice the world over including the oppressed people of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area, who have always found brotherliness and companionship in members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
In the case of the development of the Ijaws of the Niger-Delta which I have championed over the years, journalists have been worthy partners even as their contributions have served as veritable means to ventilate our views, opinions and positions as a people who have had cause to draw global attention to our plight.
However, in the matter of the hyped ‘abduction’ of journalists in Oporoza last week, it is perhaps pertinent to state that they were victims of an orchestrated and well-rehearsed saga by their Itsekiri clients who lured them into a trap. Suffice it to say that unknown to the journalists (some of whom are my friends) and before their arrival in Warri, their Itsekiri hosts had concluded plans to video-capture some Ijaw settlements, especially Ikpokpo community, to show to the world as Itsekiri lands in their desperate attempts to distort historical facts, especially as the hosting/citing of the EPZ project poses some challenges. It should be noted that the Gbaramatu people have been agitating for inclusion in the EPZ project since 2012, as of right that part of the land earmarked for the project starting from Ikpokpo community belongs to them.
It was on the strength of the above that in November 2013, the Gbaramatu people were invited alongside other stakeholders, to the unveiling meeting of the project at Government House Annex Warri by NNPC and the State Government. At the said meeting, the Gbaramatu people, out of curiosity, inquired why they have not been recognized as stakeholders by way of acquisition of land from them. But to their surprise, the Governor shut them out of the project and merely identified them as ‘impacted community’.
From that point on, it was obvious the siting of the EPZ project was beyond the ordinary. We needed no soothsayer to tell us that the Governor was hiding something from the Gbaramatu people. Even though the governor later set up a committee to resolve the issues raised by the Gbaramatu people, our anxiety and suspicion further heightened when the November 14 date for the ground-breaking ceremony was announced even though the committee was yet to come up with acceptable terms for the siting of the EPZ project.
By way of protest, the Gbaramatu people addressed a world press conference at Oporoza on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 to press home, among other things, the need to properly identify host communities for the EPZ project before its commencement. It should at juncture, be noted that as said earlier, journalists are friends and partners in progress. It was this thinking that informed our decision to host them to the world press conference held at Oporoza without molestation of any form. Similarly, the Gbaramatu Ijaws neither attempted to video-capture Itsekiri communities as they (Itsekiri) did in their own case.
It is no longer news that the Federal Government did call off the ground-breaking ceremony pending the resolution of the issues, basically on the strength of our position and submissions canvassed at that world press conference which journalists also effectively relayed to the public. It is therefore out of place for the Itsekiri people to manipulate innocent journalists in this regard to the extent of going through the unfortunate ordeal in which I also sympathize with them.
I must emphasize at this point that the claim by the Itsekiri people that the journalists were on their way to cover the ground-breaking event can only be misleading. This is because the event had been called off four days before the presence of the journalists in Ikpokpo, precisely on Sunday 16th November 2014
Of course the media has been awash with personal insults on the President just as the Ugborodo (Itsekiri) people at this point also threatened to deal with the Gbaramatu people. True to the threats, they (Itsekiri) came to Ikpokpo community in two speed boats on a Sunday morning ostensibly to attack the community. While one of the boats escaped, the community intercepted the other and discovered that journalists were among other occupants. In addition, and to the amazement of the villagers, two guns and the sum of Two Million Naira cash were found in the intercepted boat.
At this point, the community had no option than to report the matter to the security agencies. It should however be noted that upon identification, no journalist was molested as widely claimed by mischief makers. The truth is that the people of Ikpokpo community immediately insisted on taking the intruders using journalists as shield to Oporoza, the traditional headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom. This was a sensible move as the continued stay on the river with the intruders could not have been in the interest of either party. To say the least therefore, it can only be out sheer mischief that people with dubious intents could describe such move as an ‘abduction’.
High Chief Ekpemupolo
Nearly 20 years after the Federal Government awarded the contract for the 330kV Ikot Abasi Transmission Line, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) has turned to the Akwa Ibom State Government to break a N4 billion compensation deadlock threatening the completion of the strategic power project.
The transmission project, awarded in 2006 under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), has remained stalled primarily over unresolved community and wayleave compensation issues.
But, to ensure the completion of the project, NDPHC Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Jennifer Adighije, is now seeking the intervention of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, to clear the outstanding issues and enable the contractor, Anit Energy, to return to site.
Adighije made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the Governor in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
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She disclosed that the latest valuation of the outstanding wayleave obligations was slightly below N4 billion.
The NDPHC boss said the prolonged delay was particularly concerning because the contractor had reportedly completed about 90 per cent of the engineering, procurement and construction procurement for the project.
She added that substantial project materials, including conductors and tower members worth millions of dollars, had already been deployed along the project corridor between Adiasim and Ikot Ekpene, but were still lying across communities as the impasse persists.
“We are therefore pleading for your kind intervention as a shareholder and board member of the company,” Adighije told the governor.
According to her, resolving the outstanding community issues would allow the contractor to remobilise to site and bring the long-delayed project to completion.
NDPHC is now targeting May 29, 2027, for commissioning of the transmission line, subject to the successful resolution of the outstanding compensation and community challenges.
Adighije said NDPHC was keen to support the state’s development ambitions through its role as a major interventionist agency in Nigeria’s electricity sector.
“We want to be part of your ARISE Agenda,” she said, referring to the governor’s development programme.
She also welcomed the establishment of the Akwa Ibom State Electricity Regulatory Commission, saying NDPHC had commenced discussions with the commission on the development of appropriate electricity-market frameworks for the state.
According to her, officials of the commission had visited NDPHC and requested information on the company’s projects in Akwa Ibom, while a joint working group was being established to examine how the assets could be better utilised and electricity access extended to underserved communities.
Also speaking, NDPHC Executive Director, Strategy and Commercial, Mr. Patrick Obahiagbon, commended the Governor’s administration for its development initiatives across the state.
Responding, Governor Eno welcomed the NDPHC initiative and pledged to take the Ikot Abasi project before the State Executive Council for consideration. The governor said the state government would examine the outstanding issues and determine how it could intervene to facilitate the completion of the project.
There are indications that the Nigeria-Libya Gas Pipeline would go from the drawing board to reality, as it has emerged as a major option to help Nigeria break into new markets for her gas reserves.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, disclosed this at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand, during a high-level engagement with global energy companies, investors and governments on expanding Nigeria’s gas production, infrastructure, domestic utilisation and export markets.
The renewed push for the Nigeria-Libya pipeline topped the agenda for the meeting between Ekpo and Libya’s Minister of Oil and Gas, Dr Khalifa Rajab Abdulsadek.
Under the proposed framework, Nigeria and Libya are expected to explore a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and establish a joint technical team to assess the feasibility, financing, infrastructure requirements, security considerations and commercial viability of the project.
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The NNPC Limited is expected to spearhead Nigeria’s participation in the bilateral initiative. If developed, the pipeline would provide another potential route for transporting Nigerian gas through North Africa to European markets, giving Nigeria an additional platform to monetise its gas resources beyond existing LNG channels.
According to Ekpo, the Federal Government was determined to create an investment environment capable of attracting the capital, technology and strategic partnerships required to convert the country’s gas reserves into economic growth, industrial development and jobs.
“Nigeria is open for business. We have put in place the right fiscal policies and operating environment, and the security of investors and their investments is guaranteed,” he said.
He revealed that the NNPC Limited would play a central role in translating Nigeria’s bilateral energy engagements into commercially viable projects, strategic investments and sustainable development.
The minister’s engagements also revealed plans by major industry players to significantly ramp up domestic gas production and infrastructure.
Gas producers must stop treating methane reduction as an environmental cost, because methane released into the atmosphere represents lost gas, lost revenue and lost energy that could otherwise be recovered and sold.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) Adeleye Falade, made the declaration during a panel titled “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains,” at the Gastech 2026 Exhibition and Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Taking from the company’s experience, he highlighted that investments in methane abatement could pay for themselves while improving plant efficiency and asset reliability.
The NLNG CEO said the commercial value of recovering lost gas should become a central part of the global industry’s approach to methane management.
“Every tonne emitted is lost product, lost revenue and lost energy; gas we could have sold. Every molecule of methane avoided is both an emissions reduction and a recovered energy resource.”
According to him, the NLNG’s new boil-off gas compressor and start-up gas recovery project demonstrate the business case for methane reduction, with each project expected to deliver methane reductions of about 10–15 percent while also recording positive projected net present values. “The most compelling business case is the simplest one: the projects that cut our methane also pay for themselves.
“The same discipline that reduces methane also improves asset reliability and plant efficiency. The returns show up in more places than the emissions ledger,” Falade said.
He added that the starting point for methane abatement was credible measurement of gas losses, which enables companies to identify where methane is being lost, channel investment towards the right interventions and independently verify the results.
According to Falade, the NLNG had demonstrated that producers in developing economies could meet globally recognised standards for emissions measurement and reporting, despite infrastructure and other constraints.
He disclosed that the NLNG had achieved Gold Standard recognition under the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 and became the first company in Africa to attain Level 5 methane emissions reporting.
Its measurement, reporting and verification system is independently assured by DNV in line with ISO 14064.
The NLNG’s methane-management programme includes site-wide optical gas imaging, a structured Leak Detection and Repair programme, as well as phased deployment of continuous monitoring and real-time emissions dashboards across its plant and vessels.
Falade said methane reduction was also being incorporated into the design of Train 7, which is expected to raise the NLNG’s LNG production capacity from 22 million tonnes per annum to 30 million tonnes.
The commercial case for emissions abatement was not new to Nigeria, he added, pointing to the NLNG’s longstanding role in converting gas that would otherwise have been flared into a marketable product.
According to him, the company’s activities have contributed to reducing Nigeria’s gas-flaring rate from above 65 percent to below 20 percent.
Beyond its own operations, Falade revealed that the NLNG was extending methane-management requirements across its supply chain through its Scope 3 Advocacy Plan.
The company engages feed-gas suppliers and contractors to measure, disclose and reduce emissions, while verified upstream emissions data and emissions-related criteria are incorporated into supplier selection and evaluation.
Falade also called for greater consistency in methane measurement and reporting requirements across jurisdictions, arguing that divergent standards make enforcement uneven and complicate meaningful comparisons between producers.
“The industry does not need weaker standards; it needs stronger, shared ones backed by real measurement,” he said.
On the tension between emissions reduction, energy access and affordability, Falade said developing economies should not be forced to choose between economic development and climate action.
“Developing economies cannot be asked to choose between economic development and emissions reduction. Both must progress together,” he said.
Other panellists were Zubin Bamji of the World Bank, Niels Dijksman of Brunei LNG and Hiroyuki Mori of JOGMEC.
The session was moderated by energy economist Dr Carole Nakhle of Crystol Energy.
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