The Rivers State House of Assembly has ordered Heirs Energies to appear before it next Monday or face arrest. The company has ignored repeated invitations from the legislature's Committee on Public Complaints and Petitions.
Omuohia Community in Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area filed a complaint accusing the energy firm of unfairly terminating contract workers who are community members. The community has demanded their immediate reinstatement.
Speaker Martin Amaewhule said the House will not tolerate such disrespect. He warned that lawmakers will invoke Section 129 of Nigeria's constitution to compel attendance if Heirs Energies fails to show up on Monday.
"Section 129 empowers the House to procure evidence — written or oral, direct or circumstantial — that may be material or relevant to the subject matter from any person invited for that purpose," Amaewhule said during the assembly's sitting on Monday.
This marks the second time the House has rebuked the company for not appearing before the committee. The assembly previously expressed displeasure at Heirs Energies' absence during last week's sitting.
In a related matter, lawmakers also adopted recommendations from the Committee on Public Complaints and Petitions regarding an oil spillage on the 24-inch Ogala-Bonny pipeline. Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited caused the spill through equipment failure.
The committee found the compensation offered to affected persons and communities to be fair and reasonable given the extent of environmental damage. Renaissance paid N120 million in compensation and funded a medical outreach programme valued at over N100 million.
The House directed Renaissance to complete a thorough cleanup and remediation of impacted areas in the interest of public health. According to Martins Wachukwu, media aide to the Speaker, the company is currently remediating the affected regions.
The committee's recommendations were based on findings from an independent consultant who assessed the environmental damage caused by the spill.
