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Members of Agbidiama Community’s Youth Council, host of Opukushi, Tunu and Clough Creek Flow-stations in Ekeremnewsmen Local Government Area in Bayelsa State have disrupted activities at the flow-station.
Torke Ekpetun, Youth president of the aggrieved Ekeremor community youths, said shortly after the action on Thursday that the youths were yearning for dialogue to resolve the face-off.
He explained that that the protest was carried out as a result of the refusal of the oil service companies operating in the area to meet their development obligations to the community.
Ekpetun said that the obligations include provision of employment and empowerment of community folks, engagement of a non-indigenous firm by Shell for catering services, neglect of community leaders by the management of the company
He said that the failure to recognize the leadership of youth as the duly constituted authority for employment and other matters connected with oil and gas operations in the area.
Ekpetun also berated the neglect of the welfare and wellbeing of the youth executives since 2018 by Clinthwealth Nigeria Limited, an oil services farm providing services at the oilfield operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC)
He said that maltreatment of workers on site, failure to pay community workers’ end of contract bonus as provided for in the employment contract is not acceptable.
He also said that refusal of oil services firm retained to work at the oilfields by SPDC to implement workers annual salary increment at the end of every work circle was worrisome.
According to the Youth president, the refusal of SPDC and other firms operating in the area to donate palliatives as part of their corporate social responsibilities during the COVID-19 lockdown was regrettable.
He also said that the failure to secure Freedom To Operate (FTOs) for contractors, before coming to site for execution of jobs, has denied the community of accruable benefits, and is also part of the reasons for the protest.
Ekpetun called on the companies involved to retrace their steps in the interest of peace by according the host communities what is due them.
He frowned at the current situation where the host communities will bear the adverse impact of operations of the oil firms with little or no benefit and called for an end to the anomaly in the interest of parties involved.
However, when contacted for comments on the issue at its oilfields in Bayelsa, SPDC’s media relations manager, Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, said that he would come up with a position soon and is yet to do so.