Militants To Oil Companies: Vacate Akwa Ibom Now’, Give Reasons
Information reaching us that, Oil companies operating in Akwa Ibom State which have “refused to locate their operational base in the state” have been advised to vacate the state immediately.
A coalition of militants, which calls itself ‘UNYEKISONG’ – meaning earthquake in local parlance – gave the warning in a statement on 21 March 2021.
The group comprises former members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), Movement for the Actualisation of Niger Delta Republic, Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force, Niger Delta Avengers, Niger Delta Liberation Force, Niger Delta Movement for Justice and Niger Delta Warriors.
It also issued the quit notice to oil companies that have failed in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – which simply means companies giving back to the society or host communities where they operate.
UNYEKISONG further said oil companies that have not implemented the Nigerian Local Content Law in their employment and contract policies should equally leave Akwa Ibom.
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The group’s leader and deputy, ‘General’ Dede Udofia and ‘Major’ Ibanga Ekang claimed that over 90 percent of oil companies’ employees in Akwa Ibom were not from Akwa Ibom. And that the companies “intentionally refuse” to do business with Indigenous contractors and suppliers.
The group said the companies had been drilling several barrels of oil per day from the rigs located in Akwa Ibom territorial waters, but do not see the need to provide basic amenities for their immediate host communities who suffer the adverse effects of the drilling operations.
Its statement reads in part: “We also express our utmost displeasure at the companies’ insensitivity to underdevelopment and degrading living standards of the people in the oil-producing communities, due to their many years of oil exploration and exploitation in the area with the attendant environmental hazards.
“It is very sad to observe that since the commencement of operations by Addax, Moni Pulo, Chevron, Century, Oriental Energy, Savannah Petroleum, Total E & P, SEEPCO, AFREN, AMNI, etc., and their subsidiaries/partners in the various oil fields in Akwa Ibom territorial waters, they have enjoyed relative peace without any hostilities to their projects compared to other oil communities in the Niger Delta region.
“But our people have not derived any substantial benefits from these oil companies, rather we have been subjected to unwholesome deprivations and marginalisation.
“It is also indeed very painful and regrettable to witness the high level of suffering, hopelessness, degradation and poverty that the people of the oil producing communities in Akwa Ibom State have been subjected to as a result of the industrial activities of the various oil firms since their commencement of operations.
“Apart from ExxonMobil & Savannah Petroleum, oil firms that have refused to locate their operational base in the state and their refusal to implement their corporate social responsibility (CSR), the Nigerian Local Content Law in their employment and contract policies, are hereby advised to vacate Akwa Ibom State with immediate effect.
“Their refusal to implement their Corporate Social Responsibility as well as the provisions of the Nigerian Local Content Law in their employment and contract policies, we hereby advise them and their subsidiaries/partners to vacate Akwa Ibom State with immediate effect,” the group said.
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