TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, together with her JV partners NNPC Limited donated relief materials to ameliorate the plight of flood victims within OML58 communities in Rivers State.
Some of the relief materials and household items provided by the company include 340 bags of Rice (50kg), 100 bags of beans (50kg), 135 bags of garri, 2,700 tubers of yam, 200 bags of salt, 100kegs of palm oil, 200cartons of groundnut oil and 525 pieces of mattresses, 525 blankets.
Others are 525 towels, 2,700 toilet soaps, 575 mosquito nets, 59 cartons of insecticides, 625 cartons of noodles, 235 cartons of powdered milk, 320 cartons of beverage and 285 cartons of sugar.
Handing over the donations to Egi communities in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni and to Ekpeye communities in Ahoada East LGAs, the Deputy Managing Director, Port Harcourt District, TotalEnergies EP, Mr. Guillaume Dulout, urged the government to seek permanent solution to the recurring issue of flooding which devastates communities.
Dulout who sympathized with the flood victims within OML58 and across the country, said the company has deployed a crisis management team to provide various levels of interventions ranging from trucks, canoes, boats and life jackets to evacuate families from the flooded communities.
“Let me start by saying how utterly saddened we are by the devastating floods that have swept across the length and breadth of Egi and Ekpeye Kingdoms, rendering families homeless, destroying farmlands and other sources of livelihoods.
“The floods have simply made people refugees in their own communities. Sadly, these floods have become a recurring decimal in Egi, Ekpeye and indeed across other parts of Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s major rivers, the Niger and Benue are more full at this time of the year because it is the peak or the rainy season in west Africa. This is also true of the Orashi River, which has its source in Imo State. And because over the years, these rivers have become silted, flooding has become inevitable.
“The Government will have to explore long-tem solutions to make sure that the water levels in these rivers can be better controlled in the future to forestall danger to lives, property and livelihoods.
“Today, we are here to stand with our people in Egiland and Ekpeyeland. TotalEnergies is not just a responsible Company, but a responsive corporate citizen and committed member of Egiland. That is why when something affects our hosts, we are affected too.
“We are delighted to note that, so far, we have evacuated over 5,000 persons to safety: provided medical support and assistance to about 200 and daily meals to over 2,700
internally displaced persons in four camps located in Akabuka, Erema, Obite and Ogbogu.”
Dulout represented by the General Manager, Community Affairs, Project and Development.
Mr Godspower Nwachukwu, also commended other institutions who have collaborated with the Company in ensuring the support provided reached the flood victims in the temporary shelters and communities.
“It is our hope that this gesture will ameliorate the current hardships faced by the victims of the flooding in our communities.
“We wish to re-assure you of our commitment to partnering with our key stakeholders in bringing the desired development to our host communities. We thank you for your understanding and hope to see the situation return to normal soon.”
Receiving the items in Ekpeyeland, the Local Government Chairman of Ahoada East, Barr Ben Eke, and his counterpart in Ahaoda West, Mr Hope Ikiriko, commended the French multinational for the gesture.
“We say a very big thank you to TotalEnergies and we hope this conviviality will continue. Indeed you are a responsive company.
“We assure you (TotalEnergies) that there will be peace here and you will have a very smooth operations.”
Receiving the relief materials on behalf of Egi Mr. Godspower Nwachukwu, also commended other institutions who have collaborated with the Company in ensuring the support provided reached the flood victims in the temporary shelters and communities.
“It is our hope that this gesture will ameliorate the current hardships faced by the victims of the flooding in our communities.
“We wish to re-assure you of our commitment to partnering with our key stakeholders in bringing the desired development to our host communities. We thank you for your understanding and hope to see the situation return to normal soon.”
Receiving the items in Ekpeyeland, the Local Government Chairman of Ahoada East, Barr Ben Eke, and his counterpart in Ahaoda West, Mr Hope Ikiriko, commended the French multinational for the gesture.
“We say a very big thank you to TotalEnergies and we hope this conviviality will continue. Indeed you are a responsive company.
“We assure you (TotalEnergies) that there will be peace here and you will have a very smooth operations.”
Receiving the relief materials on behalf of Egi communities, the Chairman of Egi Flood Committee, Mr Chukwuemka Amirinze, thanked TotalEnergies for the palliatives
“We are eternally grateful to TotalEnergies for identifying with us in this trying time.
The flood is not going down. We want to thank TotalEnergies because they are not the only IOC operating in Egi, but the quick response they have given us is commendable.”
Also, the Eze Ekpeye Ologbo III, HRM Eze Kelvin Anugwo, commended the French multinational for always identifying with her host communities through several interventions.
“TotalEnergies has been very friendly to Ekpeye and we have no cause to regret. We have been treated good by TotalEnergies, what we are witnessing today is not the first. We will continue to pray that the relationship is cordial.”