•Ogoniland
The people of Kegbara Dere in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State have demanded direct representation in ongoing efforts to resolve the controversy surrounding the proposed resumption of oil and gas operations in Ogoniland.
The community led by its Paramount Ruler, HRH Chief Donald Kpegemona Gberesuu, said no decision concerning Kegbara Dere’s oil and gas assets should be taken without the participation of its duly constituted leadership and institutions, reports The Nation.
In an open letter addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and copied to relevant Federal Government agencies, the Ogoni Dialogue Committee, MOSOP, KAGOTE and other stakeholders, the community declared: “No decision about Kegbara Dere without Kegbara Dere.”
The community said it was not opposed to responsible petroleum resumption, but insisted that any return to oil production must be accompanied by comprehensive environmental remediation, community participation, transparency, accountability, safety and tangible economic benefits.
Kegbara Dere also demanded the immediate inclusion of Gberesuu and representatives nominated through the community’s legitimate institutions in all strategic and stakeholders’ meetings on the proposed resumption.
It said: “Government engagement must follow this lawful leadership, not personality-based representation.”
The community based its claim to legitimate representation on a series of court judgments, which it said culminated in the June 29, 2026 judgment of the Bori Division of the Rivers State High Court affirming Gberesuu as the lawful Paramount Ruler of Kegbara Dere and restraining interference.
Beyond representation, the community called for independent verification and publication of petroleum assets, infrastructure and environmental liabilities associated with Kegbara Dere.
It also urged the federal government and other stakeholders to formally retrieve and review its Kegbara Dere Engagement Master Plan and Development Blueprint, which it said was submitted to the Office of the National Security Adviser in 2025.
According to the community, the blueprint proposes a broad economic framework for petroleum operations, including community participation, employment, local content, infrastructure, healthcare, education, environmental monitoring, technology and investment.
The blueprint also demanded the establishment of an oil and gas development institute in Kegbara Dere, equity participation in the petroleum value chain and representation on the management and directorate boards of companies, joint ventures and regulatory bodies involved in oil and gas operations.
The community also demanded the location of operators’ headquarters in Kegbara Dere, the establishment of petrochemical and LNG facilities, large-scale refineries and a community-based GMoU framework.
On the environmental front, it demanded the complete decommissioning of obsolete facilities and “holistic restoration” of contaminated soil and groundwater.
It further called for compensation and settlement of families who, it alleged, suffered fatalities and permanent deformities during the repression of the Ogoni struggle.
The community said the proposed petroleum resumption must go beyond extraction to establish a transparent host-community economic and development compact.
“No exclusion. No tokenism. No representation without mandate. No petroleum resumption without environmental responsibility. No extraction without meaningful host-community participation,” it declared.
Kegbara Dere also maintained that its petroleum assets required authoritative verification, while asserting that the community had historically played a significant role in Nigeria’s oil industry.
According to the statement, Kegbara Dere Well 1 was drilled and completed in 1958 and produced what the community described as the first commercial volume of crude oil lifted from the area.
It listed numerous wells, flow stations, pipelines, gathering infrastructure, marine bases, tank farm and manifold sites and other petroleum facilities said to be located within the community.
The community, however, acknowledged that precise petroleum statistics should be confirmed through authoritative petroleum records and independent technical verification.
It also warned individuals and groups against making representations in its name without express authorisation from its recognised institutions.
“While we appreciate the fact that several persons are Ogoni leaders born in Kegbara Dere and may be eligible if authorised to speak for Ogoni, at this time and in this instant case, nobody has the mandate to discuss on behalf of Kegbara Dere except this legal authority,” the statement said.
The community said it was dissociating itself from positions attributed to individuals or groups without its mandate, insisting that its Master Plan and Development Blueprint remained its official framework for engagement on oil and gas resumption.
It further reaffirmed its support for the constitutional process for the creation of an Ogoni State, also known as Bori State, with a minimum of two local government areas for Kegbara Dere.
The statement was endorsed by Gberesuu and other members of the Kegbara Dere Contact Group on Oil and Gas Resumption, including the Chairman of the Kegbara Dere Town Governing Council, Chief Elder Enoch T. Gbarabe; Chairman, Community Development Committee, Capt. Rogers Dum Mbaka; Women Leader, Mrs Eunice Deenor; Youth President, Comrade Jerusalem Dumka; and spokesperson, Chief John T. Gaage.
