Oloibiri oil well dispute: court rules in favor of Otuabagi community | Headline News
The Ogbia High Court sitting in Yenagoa has ruled that Otuabagi community is the location of the first oil well discovered in commercial quantities in Nigeria.
The presiding judge, Justice Simon Amaduboga, who entered in the consent decree the terms of the settlement agreed to by the parties after mediation by the Ijaw National Congress (INC), also said that the Oloibiri Museum and Research Center would be established in Otuabagi, a crude oil producing region. handed down the verdict. It was first discovered in commercial quantities in 1956.
The court marked OHC/10/2021 in this suit, filed by Oloibiri community against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bayelsa State Government, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Commission, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Otuabagi, Otuogidi and Opume communities. He further ordered that it was done. The Oloibiri community should refrain from requesting the relocation of the museum and research center project or any part thereof, as designated projects can only be located where artifacts such as original oil wells are present.
On the other hand, based on the judgment, it is not possible to appeal. The development brings to an end long-standing contradictions over the rightful ownership of the land where oil in commercial quantity and quality was first discovered in 1956 in Otuabagi community in Ogbia Local Council of Bayelsa State.
Recall that the famous Oloibiri oil field consists of 21 oil wells. These wells were discovered and named in sequence from their first discovery on January 15, 1956 in Otuabagi, then Oloibiri District, Brass Region, pre-independent Nigeria. As a result, Otuabagi held wells 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21. Otuogidi held wells 6 and 12. Opume successfully hosted 4. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the Oloibiri community.
Source: guardian.ng