{"id":14858,"date":"2017-06-21T20:02:12","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T20:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=14858"},"modified":"2017-06-21T20:02:12","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T20:02:12","slug":"uphold-revocation-order-on-okomu-oil-palm-company-plc-group-petitions-gov-obaseki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=14858","title":{"rendered":"UPHOLD REVOCATION ORDER ON OKOMU OIL PALM COMPANY PLC; GROUP PETITIONS GOV. OBASEKI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Environmental Rights Action\/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA\/FoEN), representatives of the Owan and Okomu communities and a host of civil society groups have urged the Dr. Godwin Obaseki administration to uphold a revocation Order on 13,750 hectares of land expropriated by Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc in the rich forest reserves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In a letter delivered to Dr. Obaseki after a protest march tagged \u201cPeoples March Against Land-grabbing and Deforestation in Edo State\u201d following Okomu Oil Company\u2019s defiance of the revocation order, the groups and the global environment movement said the current administration owes the community people the duty of enforcing the order.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Under former Governor Adams Oshiomhole the sale of the lands in contention covering an estimated 13,750 hectares spread through Okomu forests reserve to Owan forest reserve were reversed. Till date, Okomu Oil Company Plc has disregarded the Edo state government order.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=13535&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Instead, it has militarized the communities and embarked on continuous bulldozing of the forests for expansion of large scale oil plantation. In the process, over 60,000 rural farmers in the farming communities have been displaced and a host of communities impacted. Some of the communities are Okomu Village, Agbede, Ik camp, Makilolo, Lemo, Oweike, Avbiosi, Sobe, Uhiere, Owan, Ugbebezi, Oke-Ora, Ekpan, Oke, Atorunu, Ogbetu, Umokpe, Orhua, Ozalla, Sabogida Ora, Odiguete, Agudezi, Uhunmora, Uzeba and Odighi.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">ERA\/FoEN Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo said: \u201cThe defiance of Okomu Oil Company Plc to the revocation order is only typical of what multinationals in the landgrab business do. We anticipate the current administration will not fold its hands and watch\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Dr. Ojo explained that the plight of the affected communities is further aggravated by the poverty that Okomu Oil\u2019s unrelenting bulldozing has inflicted on their only source of sustenance, even as he pointed out that \u201cin the quest for industrial development, the local communities have become casualties\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cThis development is totally unacceptable and that is why we ask the Obaseki administration to act with the speed that this issue demands. Okomu Oil Company Plc is in the breach of the law and should not be allowed to go scot-free\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><code><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=13535&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ojo listed the demands of the community. They include the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\" type=\"1\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol start=\"1\" type=\"1\">\n<li>Okomu Oil Palm Company PLC obey the Edo State Government revocation order of 13,750 hectares of de-reserved land in Owan and Okomu forest reserves.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"1\" type=\"1\">\n<li>Support family farming and local food systems, not destructive industrial agricultural<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0models.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\" type=\"1\">\n<li>Stop Deforestation and Land grabbing for Large-scale Oil palm plantation expansion by Okomu Oil Palm Company PLC.<\/li>\n<li>Trading our forests for industrial oil palm plantations business is a dangerous eco-business that have devastating negative social and environmental impacts.<\/li>\n<li>Prioritize public good over private interest<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0No due process or EIA certificate for Okomu\u00a0 Oil Palm Company PLC<\/li>\n<li>Communities are the best custodians of forests and nature, Community forest management method is the answer to food deficit.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0Philip Jakpor<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Head, Media &amp; Campaigns<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">08037256939<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Picture-of-protest-march-against-Okomu.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-14859\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Picture-of-protest-march-against-Okomu-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Picture-of-protest-march-against-Okomu-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Picture-of-protest-march-against-Okomu-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Picture-of-protest-march-against-Okomu-1024x768.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Picture-of-protest-march-against-Okomu.jpg 1040w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Environmental Rights Action\/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA\/FoEN), representatives of the Owan and Okomu communities and a host of civil society groups have urged the Dr. Godwin Obaseki administration to uphold a revocation Order on 13,750 hectares of land expropriated by Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc in the rich forest reserves. In a letter [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[26,3907],"class_list":["post-14858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-erafoen","tag-okomu-oil-company"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Picture-of-protest-march-against-Okomu.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-3RE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14858"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14860,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14858\/revisions\/14860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}