Oil firm threatens to stop assistance to host communities

WARRI—MID-WESTERN Oil and Gas, MWOG, one of the upstream companies operating marginal fields under Oil Mining Lease, OML, 56, in Kwale, Delta State, has threatened to stop its empowerment assistance to its host communities over beneficiaries’ alleged abuse of the opportunities.At the presentation of starter packs to batch three beneficiaries of its skills acquisition training in Kwale, the company expressed disappointment that some previous beneficiaries of the training sold their starter packs and abandoned establishing their own businesses as expected at the end of the programme.Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, MWOG, Mr Charles Odita, in his remarks on the occasion, told the beneficiaries and community leaders that the abuse of the opportunities amount to wastage on the company and clog in the wheel of progress for the host communities.Odita said: “From the beginning when we came in to do business here, we realised that much as we cannot employ everybody, it was imperative to explore other empowerment opportunities through skill acquisition to gainfully engage as many unemployed indigenes as possible as panacea for sustaining peaceful operating environment.”