Trouble looms as Bayelsa community issues 7-day ultimatum to shut down SPDC flow stations

Protesting Egbemo-Angalabiri community, host to Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has issued a seven-day ultimatum to SPDC to comply with their demands, failure to which they would shut down the two flow stations in Egbemo-Angalabiri Domain.

The community folk, including women and youths, stormed Specialty Drilling Rig BR 301, Monday this week, a major oil drilling rig belonging to SPDC, and who have continued their occupation on the facility over failure to attend to their demands.

Comrade Alex Benikama, who spoke to Vanguard on the latest development, Friday, said the Bayelsa State government summoned a meeting over the protest, but asserted that it was deadlocked.

He said: “The Bayelsa State government, Wednesday this week, called a meeting between the community and SPDC in Yenagoa, the state capital, to settle the issue.

“We attended the meeting, paramount rulers, chiefs, community chairmen and opinion leaders and representatives of SPDC attended the meeting and we presented our grievances and demands.

“We gave our seven-point demands from SPDC, we ask for employment of our people in SPDC, a review of a particular contract, we demanded that every benefit due our community must come to the community but SPDC responded that our demands are not feasible.

“Then, we said the protest and occupation on their facility will continue and we gave them seven days to comply, failure to which we will shut down the two flow stations in our domain, Tunu and Opukushi flow stations, which belong to SPDC.

“In fact, the meeting was not fruitful and the state government rescheduled it and promised to get back to us as soon as possible”. Vanguard