Five members of the Compliance Monitoring and Sensitization Implementation Progress Team have reportedly been held hostage for over two hours by top management staff of Sterling Exploration and Energy Petroleum Company (SEEPCO) in their Kwale office, Ndokwa West council of Delta State.

It was learnt that the monitoring team, responsible for the implementation of the Host Community Development as enshrined in Section 234 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021, were detained by soldiers on the orders of a foreign national and top management staff of SEEPCO while they were on official duties at the company on Wednesday, 17th January 2025.

It could not be immediately ascertained the reason(s) that prompted the foreign national?s actions, but it was reliably gathered that as soon as the monitoring team arrived at the premises of the oil company, they were received by the base manager of SEEPCO, Mr. Simon K. John, and the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Emmanuel Ajang, and the sensitisation conversation commenced.

Confirming the development, the leader of the compliance monitoring team, George Bucknor, an engineer, said he introduced the members of the team and informed the staff of the company that the visit was to sensitise them on the provisions of the PIA Act, with emphasis on the strict implementation of the Nigerian content as provided for in the Act.

Bucknor explained that his company, Mecco and Marine Holdings Ltd., was appointed as a consultant by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the PIA Act.

He also stated that the essence of the visit was to familiarize and sensitize critical stakeholders, particularly operators in the industry, on the importance of doing the needful, but that the exercise was not to witch-hunt any company. Instead, it aimed to help promote a more cordial business environment between the operators and their host communities.

The monitoring team leader further stated that their mission was to collate actionable intelligence on the host communities? activities pertaining to the mandate of the PIA, adding that the objective was to ensure that host communities enjoyed their direct social and economic benefits from petroleum operations.

However, midway into the meeting, a top management team and expatriate reportedly walked into the venue and ordered the team members to shut down their video recording and instructed soldiers on guard duty to interrogate and detain the monitoring team members.

Bucknor explained further that he was embarrassed and humiliated by the action of the expatriate and quickly called the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission headquarters in Abuja, where a senior member of the commission confirmed that the monitoring team was on official duty at the instance of the commission.

But the call did not assuage the position of the top officer of SEEPCO, who instead ordered the soldiers to interrogate and escort members of the team out of the company?s premises after hours of ?illegal detention,? he alleged.

Meanwhile, an official report on the incident has been formally presented to the headquarters of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission for further action.

Efforts to reach the SEEPCO official, Mr. Devender Kumar, an Indian, did not yield results as calls placed to him went unanswered. (The Guardian, but headline rejigged)