By Magnus Effiong
The people of Ukim Ita and several other communities in Odukpani, Calabar Municipality and Akpabuyo as well as contractors engaged for purported constructions of access roads, erosion control, schools, health facilities amongst others in those areas, are in pain.
While the natives are bemoaning the destruction of their farmlands and economic trees for the acclaimed projects which were abandoned since about three years ago, contractors engaged to handle the afore-mentioned projects are crying out for their resources, running into hundreds of millions, which they committed to the projects without mobilization promised by Waltz Environmental Solutions Nig Ltd, a company which laid claims to being a consultant engaging with OANDO.
Our reporter gathered that Waltz company had approached the people of the various areas telling them that as oil producing communities, OANDO was ready to compensate them with roads, school and health facilities as part of its Community Social Responsibility and that a whooping N36 billion had been set aside for that purpose.
Investigations indicated that Waltz Environmental Consultancy Services Ltd, represented by Mr Samuel Ekong, came to Calabar around 2020 and started meeting stakeholders from all the host communities where the OANDO /Eastern Horizon/ Seven Energy gas pipeline passes through.
Mr Ekong had told the community leaders that he was a consultant working with OANDO to identify all such communities so as to carry out the long-awaited CSR worth N36billion, promised by OANDO.
After signing MOUs with the host communities, he asked Contractors to register and tender for the various works, ranging from roads to secondary schools, erosion works, ultramodern markets, clinics and town halls etc.
About 190 contractors reportedly registered with sums ranging from N250,000 to N3million for various project packages. It is alleged that the head of the Waltz company was richer with over N50million from that exercise.
After the registration, the company directed the Contractors to open accounts, move to site and start work, promising to pay according to work done, from the money to be gotten from OANDO.
At the same time the head of the company also promised the community people that he would pay compensation for their crops and economic trees that would be damaged during road, schools, clinics and other building/constructions.
Soon after, numerous signboards with FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA , the coat of arms, OANDO and WALTZ, prominently written, sprang up at the numerous project sites.
The Contractors said with all that, they were convinced that the projects were real and they borrowed funds, payed for registration, bought tender packages, employed people, did traditional consultation in host communities and rented houses etc in order to move to their sites and start working.
Everything was going smoothly for the first few weeks until it became time for Waltz to pay them for the preliminary work done.
Waltz allegedly gave excuses, accusing OANDO and government officials of demanding outrageous bribes before they released the money to him and later saying he was actually reporting OANDO to EFCC to compel them to pay for the works.
Our reporter learnt that when the stories became funny and contradictory, the communities decided to reach out to OANDO, which vehemently denied any knowledge of Waltz transaction. This prompted some communities and contractors to begin to demand refund of their monies while others reported the matter to the Police.
Having established that Waltz was anything but real, the communities washed their hands off the project, and for more than two years, investigation indicated that the contractors were left in limbo while Mr Ekong was nowhere to be found.
Early this year, he resurfaced and told the bewildered contractors to re-mobilize to site, claiming to be ready to start work again and promising to send an SOS to the government to assist the projects and contractors.
Surprisingly, a few weeks ago, Mr Ekong invited the contractors to a meeting with the following information: “Good morning to all partners and Contractors. Please refer to the information below…For the contractors’ meeting scheduled to take place today, all contractors are enjoined to do the following: Bring along an original or copies of all your awarded projects.
“Bring along your Waltz Certificate of Registration, a verification fee of ₦5,000 per project will be paid by all contractors at the entrance/venue of the meeting today.
“Note, this is the final part of your verification as a contractor before the next stage. Payments should be made to the account details below: Account Name: WALTZ ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS NIG LTD, Bank: FIRST BANK PLC, Account Number: 2024303893; Bank: GTB PLC, Account Number: 0692801076.”
However, in a chat with our reporter, Mr Simon Okoroze, one of the contractors, said he registered three companies- Viv Ltd, Girona Ltd and Biscens Ltd to handle different aspect of the job, hired heavy equipment, transported same to Odukpani to do the preliminary works and that he was there for months tearing the farmlands for the acclaimed projects without getting back what he spent on that transaction.
‘I spent a fortune on a ghost project and left without recouping my money which runs into millions of Naira. As I speak, I’ve plunged myself into serious debt with my bank where I got facilities from,” he stated.
Another contractor, who preferred anonymity said Waltz has succeeded in ruining many contractors, adding “many contractors have developed hypertension because they borrowed from banks which are now selling their properties and pursuing them in court.
“Now the economy is bad and people are desperate, that is why some of the contractors are still following Samuel Ekong blindly even though they have seen all the signs that this may be a big scam.”
Several efforts to speak with Mr Ekong met erected brick walls as the man at the other end boldly told Our Reporter that the dialed number was a wrong number.
Speaking, a community leader, Arch Bassey Ndem in one of the affected communities told our reporter: “Women and youth of one of my communities, Ukim Ita, are weeping and wailing because their crops, sources of livelihood and even graves of their loved ones were destroyed during the road and bush clearing.
“They too have not received a kobo in the compensation Mr Ekong promised them nor have the lofty projects materialized. I have issued a disclaimer, publicly asked Samuel Ekong four fundamental questions which he couldn’t answer, and warned him to keep away from any of my communities.”
As at the time of this report, victims were still lamenting how and what pushed them into the failed transaction whose hope to see the light of day is regrettably bleak.
