Dozens Injured As Residents Protest Oil, Gas Pollutions In A/Ibom Communities

A supposed peaceful protest staged by local residents of Ikot Inyang Okop village in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area against Sterling Global Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO) over alleged untold hardship it extractive active have meted on the people.

The protesters drawn from the oil bearing communities including are made to suffer in the oil drilling operations in neighbouring Ibiote community, lamented that the exploratory activities have brought untold hardships, destroying vital economic ecosystems including farmlands and water resources constituting their major means of livelihood.

To quell the protest, the angry residents accused the company of drafting overzealous security operatives who, they alleged, deployed heavy hand in the process of dismissing the demonstrators, leading to injuries to several people in the group.

“We had a an organised and peaceful demonstration over widespread disregard for due diligence and corporate ethics in oil and gas exploration and exploitation in our local communities without any recourse to the international best practices as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

“Our environment has been devastated and the roads have become more deplorable due to heavy trucks ferrying heavy equipment to the locations.

“And we said we should not keep quiet for them to continue to destroy our natural ecosystems, farmlands and other means of livelihood. We resorted to embarking on a peaceful protest to draw government and the company management to the devastating impacts of oil, gas pollutions and other environmental issues facing the residents.

“But the company responded by deploying three Hilux-load of soldiers from its security unit to brutally attack the protesters and forcefully unblock the barricade of traditional injunction in the bid to break up the demonstrators,” Comrade Eseme Inyang, one of the protesters lamented.

In the same vein, the Village Head of the community, Eteidung Okon Marcus Akpakpan, recalled that things were normal, including roads and drinkable stream water, until the company came to distort the peaceful ambience of the mostly agrarian communities.

“When they came, they promised to improve our living conditions by constructing the major road that leads to the oil rig, and provide other essential amenities for the people.

“Here, we were used to riding our motorcycles and bicycles which didn’t deteriorate our roads, until they came with their heavy duty vehicles and everything went bad as it is today.

“All I am saying is, I am not advocating for trouble. Rather, what the people are saying is that since they (the company) began to pass through their community to do their oil operations in the next community, they should also be concerned about bettering the life of the people whose land they have badly degraded while carrying out these oil business because our roads and streams are no longer usable to us,” the monarch appealed.

The royal father, who lamented being trapped from moving out of his palace due to the current impassable condition of the access road caused by the company’s ongoing excavation work for the laying of oil pipeline following its claim of right of way in the community, reiterated his continued call for peaceful resolution of all issues subsisting between his community and the oil firm.

Besides, Chief Brown E. Ekwere, the Deputy Village Head of the community, who doubles as the Family Head, explained that “the aggrieved community members were gathering for a peaceful protest due to the current deplorable state of their only access road into and out of their community.”

He noted that what brought the devastation to the community was the routine vehicular and heavy equipment movements, recalling that, “when they first came into the community for their oil operations, we told them to note the state of the road at the time and ensure its proper maintenance for the convenience and usefulness of their operations and for the good of the indigenes of the community.”

He, however, lamented that two years now since they promised provision of potable pipe-borne water for the people, the firm has not lived up to the expectations.

“As a result of their various operations in and through the area, all natural water sources for domestic use have been utterly polluted. None of their promises to this community have totally been honoured. Compensations for lands claimed from the people as right of way have not been paid,” he stressed.

The Youth President in the area, Comrade Emmanuel Udoh Enoidem, maintained that such company in the calibre of Sterling Global, also known as Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO), was what the community was wishing for, but regretted that that ‘for three years of its operations in and through the area, the people’s source of drinking water has been rendered unusable as a result of soil excavation for laying of oil pipelines.

“The company began the drinkable water project since 2024 and has not completed same till today. Our only major road before now was good and motorable, but due to their frequent vehicular movement of heavy-duty equipment used for their Ibiote Rig operation, the road has become this visibly deplorable.

“Concerning all these and unpaid compensations for additional ten metres to originally agreed fifty metres of measured right of way, and for our ancestral beehive shrine, the community has written series of letters to the company’s Iko Base Office, through the Base Manager in charge of security.

“The community is aggrieved even over the issue of grossly underpaid indigenous workers in the company, including skilled workmen. This is compared to what is paid to such categories of workers in other communities. So, as you can see, all members of the community – the royal fathers, the elderly ones, men, women, the youth – are out here for this peaceful protest,” Comrade Enoidem noted.

On her part, the Ikot Inyang Okop Community Women Leader, Mrs. Christiana Akpan Afia, enumerated the burning issues beleaguering the area, the access road being the priority, followed by potable water, and unsettled compensations for lands claimed by the company for laying of oil pipeline.

“I’m also using this opportunity to appeal for the company to create employment slots for qualified community members, including women, female and ,the male youths.”

Responding, the Media and Public Relations Official of the company, Mr. Aniekeme Finbarr, sued for peace as the firm was assiduously working to resolve all the issues in dispute.

“The community is located along the Right of Way (ROW) and is not an oil-bearing or designated host community. Over the past two years, the company has nevertheless made deliberate efforts to engage with the community and respond to concerns raised, including its allegation of water pollution.

“In response, we initiated plans to provide a borehole, but implementation has remained stalled for about one and a half years due to repeated objections and changes requested by the community.

“The company is also currently constructing an access road to facilitate safe access to the rig. Unfortunately, access to the work area has on several occasions been obstructed, creating significant operational and safety concerns.

“Some of the demands being made also go beyond the company’s operational responsibilities and the scope of the ROW intervention.

“We wish to emphasise that the safety and wellbeing of our employees, contractors, community workers and residents remain our foremost priority. We do not support violence or the use of force against peaceful protesters, and we are engaging the relevant authorities and community stakeholders to ensure that any disagreements are resolved peacefully and responsibly.

“Sterling Global remains committed to dialogue, lawful engagement and responsible operations. We believe that the concerns of all parties are best addressed through constructive engagement, accurate facts and established regulatory processes, rather than confrontation.

“We remain available to engage with the community and other stakeholders toward a peaceful and sustainable resolution,” he assured.