The previously unknown Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate’s statement came as protesters continued to block the entrance to a Chevron oil depot in the restive southern region for a third day.
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A protest leader, Collins Edema, told Reuters that 300 people chose to demonstrate because Chevron had not fulfilled many of its promises to residents of the community.
“Nobody is going in and out of the facility since we’ve started but Chevron has airlifted their senior staff from there”, he said, a claim Reuters could not verify.
The NNPC has not publicly confirmed whether the incident took place. “We at Ugborodo are urging other Itsekiri communities to follow suit and shut down Chevron activities in our communities”, Edema said.
They want the company to relocate more of its Nigerian offices to the southern Delta state to secure work for people living in the oil-producing swampland.
President of Ugborodo Youths, Mr Ofe Nene, who is leading the protest, told Vanguard on phone, that the protesters would not lift the siege on the company until the appropriate authorities addressed their demands. Their complaints – centering on jobs, community development and pollution – have stayed the same over the years.
“Our protest is going on peacefully today on Thursday”.
However, the management of the company, in a press release issued on Thursday, August 11 by General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs,Deji Haastrup, said that it does not interfere in the internal relations of the communities where it operates.
The Niger Delta region has been hit by a wave of attacks on oil and gas pipelines, reducing Nigeria’s crude output by 700K bbl/day.
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The Niger Delta has been making world headlines for several months now, mostly with violent attacks on oil production and infrastructure, carried out by various militant groups claiming to be protecting the rights of the local communities to get a bigger portion of oil revenues and a cleaner environment. They also say they live in poverty despite sitting on much of Nigeria’s oil wealth.
