Residents of Nembe, the host community of Aiteo Eastern Exploration in Bayelsa, on Tuesday, staged a peaceful protest to register their displeasure over the oil company’s operation of the OML 29 facility.
President of Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Barrister Oweilaemi Peretubo, condemned Aiteo’s refusal to implement the Nigerian Content law by providing jobs for youths in the area, adding that it had failed to fulfill corporate social responsibilities since it acquired the facilities from Shell.
Peretubo urged Aiteo to employ qualified indigenes of Nembe kingdom to avoid strain relationship between Aiteo and the Ijaw nation.
He lamented that the company does not have an office in Yenagoa and Rivers state, thereby making it impossible for the host communities to approach them for a round table discussion.
Reading the communique, a leader of Nembe community, Elder Kwomo Ebri-Ogbeghabo, accused the company of outright negligence despite improved production output.
He also listed “non-implementation of memorandum of understanding and zero corporate social responsibility” as reason for their protest.
“Aiteo produces 150,000 barrels of oil per day in the Nembe Creek Oil Field without any positive impact on the host community”, Ebri-Ogbeghabo added.
Woman leader of Nembe community, Abigail Tariah, stated that Aiteo has been exploring what rightly belongs to the people for the past four years without employing the people.
She called for its immediate vacation of the company from their land.
In his reaction, Aiteo Field Supervisor, Anthony Bayo, who received communiqué on behalf of company promised to forward it to the management.
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