By Jude Opara Abuja

It was a free for all fight on Thursday at the House of Representatives Public hearing on the now controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) as some host communities exchanged blows, a development that forced the lawmakers and other invited guests to scamper for safety.

Trouble started when the first group of the host communities was invited to make their presentation which took place at the House Hearing Room 028.

Although it was not clear what led to the fight, trouble started immediately host communities were called upon to make their presentations by the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Hon. Mohammed Monguno

The fight forced the lawmakers to put proceedings on hold.

However, it was gathered that the committee had said that the other communities will make their presentation after the first group, the host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas had done with theirs.

As the first community was about to mount the podium, the other communities stood up and started shouting at one another. The shouting match soon snowballed into a rowdy session that further degenerated into fighting.

For whatever reason, people who sat nearby clearly overheard some of the protesting communities saying the representative of the first group “is not going anywhere”.

In the reigning confusion, one of the men, who may be in his early 60s, was injured with blood rushing from his nose.

But after about 10 minutes of confusion and rowdiness, security operatives at the National Assembly were able to calm the situation.

While it was not immediately clear which and why the host communities kicked again the first presentation, it was gathered that at the committee’s earlier hearing on Tuesday, the host communities had disagreed on the percentage of operating expenditure due to them from the participating oil companies.

While the PIB is proposing 2.5 % to set up a trust fund for the Oil Producing Communities, the communities are asking for 10 %. They argued that the offer from the PIB was too meagre and will not be enough to improve the standard of living of their people.

Ironically, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who is also from the oil producing region, insists however, that the 2.5 % was fair enough.

Silver, a former governor of Bayelsa State had told journalists in Abuja: “I speak as a member of the host communities myself. If you have to look at it properly, you will see that 10 % in profit is different from 10 % of the operating expenditure.”

The PIB which seeks to introduce pertinent changes to the governance, administrative, regulatory and fiscal framework of the Nigerian oil and gas industry, has suffered a series of setbacks as successive governments have tactically frustrated its passage.