Scores of protesting women and youths of the Koroama community in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa State, yesterday, disrupted production activities at the multi-million naira Gbarain-Ubie Integrated Gas Plant owned by the Shell Production and Development Company (SPDC).
The aggrieved Koroma youths, women, and elders blocked the access road to the facility and suspended ongoing work at the gas plant to demand power supply from the power plant component of the facility.
The paramount ruler of the community, Chief Sabu Martins, who addressed the aggrieved members of his community urged them to remain resolute until their aims were achieved.
He said that the oil and gas endowed community suffers the adverse impact of gas flares and so deserves the supply of electricity generated with gas from the area to ameloriate their sufferings. He noted that the protest has been ongoing for the past three weeks and resulted to forcing contractors to vacate the community until the oil firm gives a firm commitment to provide electricity to the them.
“Today we are protesting to the SPDC, and to the federal government as well, to come to the realisation that Koroama is a host community and has the largest proven gas and oil reserve in Shell entire operations in this area. We have agreed that if light, the only demand we have, is not given to us then Shell will never operate on our land. We have given them time to remove their things and we want government to intervene,” the monarch said.
Also addressing the protesting members of the community, a community rights activist Miss Ankio Briggs, noted that the demands of the people who host the gas plant was modes
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