By Ebi Oweikeme
The Indigenes of oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta have protested against what they regarded as the refusal of Shell Petroleum Development Company to comply with the Senate resolution that they should be paid N6.9bn.
The protestation took place in Abuja on Thursday, August 22, with the protesters showcasing placards and banners with different inscriptions to extend their worry to the relevant authorities.
Two-week ultimatum was given to the SPDC to meet their demand, when the indigenes converged on the Unity Fountain in Abuja.
They threatened to destroy the assets of the SPDC in the Niger Delta region if the amount was not released to the affected communities.
GbaramatuVoice gathered that “The leader of the communities and Chief of Opolo community in Bayelsa State, Chief Odede Hezekiah, said they could have mobilised the people of the area to go after the SPDC’s facilities to express their grievances but settled for a protest in Abuja to draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians to the issue.”
According to Hezekiah, “We are giving them just two weeks from now, if they don’t respect the Senate resolution, anything can happen.
“We just want the President of Nigeria to hear everything before we take our action. We give them just two weeks from now, if they don’t respect the Senate resolution, anything can happen.”
A representative of Azagbene community of Bayelsa State, who spoke to newsmen said “the Senate had passed a resolution directing that the SPDC to pay N600,000 per hectare of land per annum to host communities in the Niger Delta. But as I am talking to you now, they paid us N200,000.”
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