PORTHARCOURT: Women from the Alesa community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State on Monday staged a nude protest against the controversial Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and two Chinese firms for the rehabilitation and operation of the Port Harcourt Refining Company.
The protest marked the second week of demonstrations by host communities opposing the refinery agreement, with elderly women and youths barricading the refinery gate in protest over what they described as the exclusion of host communities from negotiations surrounding the deal.
The agitation followed last week’s blockade of the refinery by youths from Alesa and Okrika communities, who demanded the reconstitution of the Joint Community Relations Committee and greater involvement in discussions concerning the future of the refinery.
Although details of the agreement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Chinese firms have not been publicly disclosed, concerns have continued to grow among host communities who insist they deserve representation and benefits in any arrangement involving facilities situated on their ancestral land.
Speaking during the protest, community leader Chief Mrs. Catherine Abbey-Wai said residents had sacrificed immensely for the refinery without receiving corresponding benefits.
“The refinery is on our land. There is no more land left for us. We have been farming, but there is no place left to farm. Fulani herdsmen invade our land with cows, and we are supposed to stay in the house with no financial help from anywhere,” she said.
Abbey-Wai lamented the level of unemployment and economic hardship facing the community despite decades of oil and gas operations in the area.
“We are not working; our children who are graduates are not working. The government wants to sell the refinery to China, but it’s ours, so we need to be involved. That is why you are seeing us here, old and young women,” she added.
She maintained that all segments of the host communities should have been consulted before any agreement was reached.
The government is supposed to reach out to all of us, both young and old, men and women, chiefs and youths, so we can benefit from whatever they are doing,” she stated.
Another protest leader, Elizabeth Bouro, said the women would continue the protest until their concerns were addressed by the authorities.
We’re supposed to benefit from this refinery, but we did not benefit from anything. If the government truly wants to sell the refinery to China, we’re supposed to have a meeting to discuss it, so everybody benefits. But nothing like that happened, she said.
According to her, the protest could continue indefinitely if the government failed to respond.
If they don’t answer us, we can stay here for more than one month. We’ll still stay here until the government answers us. Look at our old mothers. That is why we are here, she added.
The Port Harcourt Refining Company has remained largely non-functional for decades despite several rehabilitation efforts costing billions of dollars.
During the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Government approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the refinery, though critics argue that little progress has been achieved despite the expenditure.
