People of Ogwuikpele community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State have staged a protest over the activities of oil exploration company, Sterling Petroleum Energy Exploration Company (SPEECO) in their community.
The indigenes chose the 10th anniversary of SPEECO in their community to stage the protest, calling for government attention over their plight, which mostly centers on lack of corporate social responsibility by the company and of basic amenities.
In a two-day protest held over the weekend, members of the community who trooped out with placards lamented lack of tarred roads, hospitals, electricity, pipe-borne water and others.
Youths, women, children, and elderly people marched through the community in protest, saying SPEECO’s 10 years of oil exploration in their community has put them in agony, denial, rejection, and degradation.
The President General of the community, its traditional prime minister and other important personalities who spoke to journalists during the protest stated in one voice that they will no longer accept the activities of the oil exploration company.
The President General of the community, Mr Esumai Patrick Chukwudi told journalists that a day before the commencement of the protest, the community had stopped all exploration activities, prompting the management of SPEECO to approach them for a meeting.
Esumai said: “The reason for the gathering and protest is to celebrate 10 years of rejection, humiliation and insult from SPEECO exploration company, who have been mining oil in our land with nothing to show for it.
“No employment, no road, no water, 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 being moved out of our land, which affects the PIA (Petroleum Industry Act).
“No single person from Anambra is employed. We have a consensus 60/40 agreement on employment for our youths, yet they renewed.
“Yesterday we shut down all the Wells. We have about 12 wells in Umuokike, seven in Umuayas, seven in Umuogbeleke, Umuogbulishi and Umuogbu, 12 wells. We shut it down and that is why they came today for us to dialogue and we have told them our grievances, they said they are going to fix another meeting,” he said.
Also, the Traditional Prime Minister of Ogwuikpele Kingdom, Chief Akaka Anigboso, lamented bitterly over the sufferings of his people, saying, “Our oil is being explored and transferred to the Niger Delta. This is 10 good years SPEECO has been operating in our land, and none of the agreements we signed with them have been fulfilled or reached.
“They promised to give us scholarships from elementary, secondary, university, and up to a Master’s Degree. No hospital, no piped-borne water, no electricity, we have made frantic efforts to the Enugu government and Anambra Government, but they have neglected us.”
A former member of the House of Representatives from the area, Hon Chuchu Onyema, noted that they had tried to negotiate with the company, but for some reasons best known to them, they have refused to harken to the plight of the people.
He revealed that the community was supposed to be receiving three per cent of what is metered, but nothing to show of it.
“The only street light you see in Ogwu Ikpele is the one I attracted when I was in the House of Reps. Other development projects are from the state government, yet we have an oil company mining our natural resources,” Onyema regretted.
Efforts to reach representatives of the company proved abortive as they declined to speak to journalists, saying the company’s public relations officer would officially address the media much later.
