The people of Kare-Epere Zion Community in the Agge axis of Burutu local government area of Delta state, have blown hot that no amount of money, including an alleged ₦150 million land deal, will force them out of their ancestral homeland.
The position may not be unconnected to a disturbing land controversy involving allegations of a proposed 30-year lease, an alleged ₦150 million arrangement, reported eviction activities and fears of displacement of indigenous landowners from their ancestral settlement.
They insisted that Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) must first account for the invasion of their territory and destruction of farmlands, crops and economic trees.
The Community Chairman of Kare-Epere, Comrade Tomone Moses, in a signed statement dated and addressed to the Managing Director, Sterling Global Oil Company, titled, “Re:Our Final Resolutions On Our Community Land, Formal Statement On The Position Of Kare-Epere Community Regarding Our Land”
The statement made available to Leadership tagged the present stance as “a struggle to protect ancestral ownership, preserve the economic survival of farming families and prevent the possible loss of a heritage that has sustained for decades”.
”Our position is unequivocal: Kare-Epere is not for sale, and ₦150 million cannot purchase the identity, history and ancestral birthright of its people.
“We the entire people of Kare-Epere Zion Community in the Agge axis of Burutu local government area of Delta state write to formally communicate our final and equivocal position concerning our land. That your company shall take only the back portion of the community for its operations while the front portion shall be piled, preserved and left entirely for the community and its people.
“That it is the collective, final and determined decision of the people of Kare-Epere Zion Community. We will not shift from this position.
“We therefore urged your company to respect the rights, interest and wishes of the indigenous people of Kare-Epere Zion Community and to comply with this resolution in the interest of peace, mutual understanding and a lasting relationship with the company” the statement posited.
Speaking in the same vein, the Niger Delta Civil Society Forum Spokesperson for Delta State, Comrade Luck Uto maintained that “those involved in the shaddy deal, including the company, will be profiled to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation”.
According to him, “it is unacceptable how a community’s ancestral territory could become the subject of a long-term commercial arrangement without resolving fundamental concerns about land ownership, legitimate consent, compensation and the protection of existing livelihoods”.
Also, the community chairman, Tomone Moses, has submitted that “for the Kare-Epere people, their ancestral land is not an ordinary commercial asset that can be exchanged for a financial settlement as It represents their history, identity, homes, cultural heritage and economic security”.
