In a new development to the lingering oil spill crisis in Odidi Federated Community in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, stakeholders of the community have called on the Federal Government and the relevant authorities to revoke the operating license issued to Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited (HEOSL) citing the company's unprofessional conduct and failure to halt the alleged oil spill from its facilities in the area.

The recent call was issued by the Secretary of Odidi Federated Community, Chief Mamamu Bene, who led a peaceful protest of stakeholders to the creeks on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

Brandishing leaves signifying peace, women and youths from Odidi and Ikantu communities in their numbers could be seen in both the popular local ferry boat called 'Kpekpe' and speed boats at the loading route of HEOSL operations in the creek.

According to the protesters, their presence in the operational area of HEOSL is to prevent the oil company from carrying out any operations in the creek as it had failed to meet their demands, among which is the cleanup of the polluted environment, which has brought suffering and made life difficult for inhabitants.

Addressing the press at the protest site, Chief Mamamu condemned the actions of HEOSL for refusing to comply with their demands and demanded its operational license be withdrawn.

He said, "We are here to shut down the operation of Heritage Energy Limited. They are not complying with our demands, so we are here to prevent them from gaining access to the loading point.

"As we are talking to you, our ecosystem is down, our people are suffering. So, we are using this medium to call the federal government, the local government, the state government to come to our aid and all petroleum operators to come to our aid.

"Life has been very very difficult for us and we are passing through pain. So this is the message we are passing to them; we will not leave this point until the proper cleanup of our river is being carried out which is affecting our livelihoods," he further disclosed.

Mamamu who also confirmed that HEOSL had reached out to the community on the issue of the oil spill, however stated that the meeting was unfruitful as the company said it has no plans for the affected communities.

"Actually, Heritage reached out to us, but there was no good response. In short, there was no response. All our demands that we made, that we even agreed with, Heritage came back and told us that they don't have any plans for the community. That is why we are taking this action," he revealed.

Other stakeholders such as Prince Nelson re-echoed the position of the Secretary. "If you patrol round, you will see crude oil everywhere; you will see the extent of damage being caused by the oil spill; our ecosystem has been destroyed. The loading point will not work, all the vessels will not load if they cannot hear our voice. We will do anything necessary to stop operation. We are tired of this crude oil pollution.

"Heritage, come and stop the leaking points then do the necessary things, do the needful. First of all, stop the leaking points, then bring relief materials; we need drugs our women are suffering, our children are suffering, come and clean up the environment," he pleaded.

Recall that stakeholders of Odidi Federated Community and Ikantu Federated Community have embarked on several protests against the actions of HEOSL on the alleged spill, which they claimed started since February 19, 2026, with other spills recorded shortly afterwards. The situation is yet to receive any response from the appropriate authorities despite the grave effects oil spill pose to inhabitants and the ecosystem. 

View more photos from the protest: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BEbUVmoqm/