Protest Rocks Anambra Community as Residents Claim Decade of Broken Promises by Oil Firm
- Tension rose in Ogwu Ikpele, Anambra state, as residents gathered over long-standing grievances with a local oil firm
- The community voiced their anger as frustrations simmered over unaddressed promises and disputes over natural resource use
- Residents also took a stand, signaling growing unrest without revealing the full scale of the protest
Indegens Ogwui Ikpele community in Ogbaru local government area of Anambra state have protested what they called ten years of neglect and dearth of public amenities.
Source: Original
On Saturday, January 17, inhabitants of the town, including elderly women and men, as well as youths, mobilised, carried placards, and protested around the community, chanting songs depicting their frustration, disappointment, and displeasure.
The townfolks, who also blocked the entrance of the oil company and stopped the company from further mining, complained that for ten years, the Sterling Petroleum Energy Exploration Company (SPEECO) operated in the community, making billions of dollars from their soil without any form of compensation.
Speaking during the protest march, Traditional Prime Minister of Ogwu Ikpele community, Chief Akaka Damian Anigboso (Odua-Ukwu of Ogwu Ikpele), lamented bitterly over the suffering of his people, which he said is too numerous to mention.
According to him, the community is blessed with oil and natural resources in abundance, which have been drilled for ten years, yet there is nothing to show for it.
He said, "Our oil is being explored and transferred to other states for refining and sales. This is ten good years SPEECO has been operating on our soil, exploring and drilling. All agreements and understandings we reached with the oil company, not one has been fulfilled."
"Despite millions of barrels of crude oil explored and shifted every day from Ogwu Ikpele, our children remain relatively uneducated and unemployed. SPEECO promised to give our children scholarships from primary school to the university levels, but for the past ten years that they came here, they've not fulfilled any promise they made to us."
"In this community, there is no hospital, no piped-borne water, no electricity! We've taken our complaints to the government, but they neglected us. We're seen as an oil-rich community, yet we have no basic amenities. Our youths and women are neglected. We have no town hall."
"This exploration exercise has caused environmental degradation, especially erosion, and this has left no fewer than thirty houses submerged."
Community leaders list unmet promises
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with Legit.ng correspondent, a former member representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Chuchu Onyema, who was part of the protest, said that the people of the town gathered, not only to protest, but also to celebrate years of neglect, lack of basic amenities, and environmental depletion.
Source: Original
He said, "We've made efforts to come to a real agreement with the company, but for reasons known to them, they decided to despise us. We decided as a community to stop them from further work, so that they would feel obliged to reach a concrete agreement with us."
"We're supposed to be receiving three per cent of what is realised from the oil exploration, but we don't receive anything. No member of this community is employed by the company. Let them prove us wrong. We're not begging for anything; we want those things that are due for us as the oil host community."
Also, in an interview with Legit.ng correspondent, the President General of Ogwu Ikpele community, Mr Esumai Patrick Chukwudi, said the reason for the gathering was to protest ten years of rejection, humiliation, and insult from SPEECO exploration company, which he said has been mining in the town with no compensation for the host community.
"No employment, no road, no portable water supply, no hospital, nothing that is coming from them, and we have been begging them since they started operations. There is no metering that will ensure the quantity of oil they get here. We cannot determine the quantity of oil going out from the community because they laid pipes beneath the River Niger. We have gas; we have crude, yet we cannot give an account of them."
"The company has refused to come up with its corporate social responsibilities, and oil spillage has affected our farmlands and polluted our waters. We want the world to hear us and come to our help."
Also in an exclusive chat with Legit.ng, the president of youths in the community, Aghauli Chimuanya Peter, noted that the community has demanded that the company build roads, pipe-borne water, electricity, solar-powered lights, and give employment to the people, but that none were granted.
Also, in an exclusive interview, a community leader, Aghauli Dominic Chukwudi, urged Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo to intervene so that SPEECO would leave significant infrastructure on the ground in the community.
Woman Leader of the community, Mrs Onwuaghamadu Victoria, who also spoke with Legit.ng correspondent noted that the existence of SPEECO in Ogwu Ikpele is useless because there is nothing good to show about their experience.
Anambra residents protest fake traditional ruler
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that residents of Umuoji Community in Anambra state have rejected the installation of a traditional ruler they call illegitimate after a 12-year reign, insisting the process violated customs.
The community argued that proper king-making procedures were ignored when Igwe Leonard Obika ascended the throne, prompting protests and calls for the restoration of authentic leadership.
Elders and youth leaders vowed to pursue legal and cultural channels to correct the situation and install a legitimate ruler according to longstanding village traditions
Source: Legit.ng
