NIgerian youth leaders are drawing the attention of the international community and the Federal Government to the alleged neglect of oil communities in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State by international oil companies (IOCs) operating there, especially Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

The youth leaders were shocked by what they saw on Friday at Kula, one of the communities during a visit to the area. Consequently, they promised to support the community in the fight to secure justice against the alleged neglect by the IOCs by petitioning the international community and the Federal Government.

The team, led by Ambassador Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo, President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), also had the Presidents of Ijaw Youth Council, Arewa Youth Forum, Egbe Igbimo Odo Yoruba (Afenifere), Greener Nigeria Movement among other youth leaders from across the federation.

The team was told by the natives that the communities in Kula Kingdom had, for the past two years, engaged in an agitation to get Shell to divest from OML 25 it operates in the area and vacate for lack of social amenities.

The delegation visited Kile Ama 1, Offoinama, Belema and Kula Town, expressing grave concern over the lack of development in the area. The communities had, in August 2017, shut down the operations of SPDC on OML 25 over alleged neglect by the oil giant.

On his part, the President of Greener Nigeria Movement, Comrade AbdulRahman Agboola, expressed concern over the neglect in the area, adding that the host community should eject Shell.

Agboola said: “What I have seen does not befit the people who contribute heavily to the nation’s economy. “Our call to the government is that the people of Kula should be given the right of first refusal on OML 25 because they do not need Shell again in their environment.”

Meanwhile, the Secretary of Offoinama Council of Chiefs, Chief Fiala Tubolabo Fiala, who thanked the team for the intervention, noted that Kula people were living in abject poverty because of the alleged activities of SPDC.

“We are in abject poverty. That is how the IOCs left us. Everything we have is by our own efforts. We are happy for your intervention and we will support you to ensure that we have justice”, Fiala said.

“We have no land to build. We know that we will succeed in this fight. We know that you will take up this matter so that Shell will know that we have youths in Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, Shell has described the allegations by the women and leaders of Kula as false, but stated the need for dialogue. This was contained in a statement by the Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan, on behalf of SPDC’s External Relations General Manager, Igo Weli.

•Excerpted from a Vanguard report

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