Following the promise that the Port Harcourt Refinery, which was commissioned seven months ago, would begin production in August, youths within the host communities, yesterday, barricaded the facility over marginalisation.

Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, had said that the refinery would start production by early August to make the country a net exporter of petroleum products.

Youths from the host communities of Eleme, in Port-Harcourt, had besieged the facility in the early hours of yesterday with makeshift tents and loud speakers. They blocked the entrance to the facility as they danced to different music.

Some members of the community accused the managers of the facility of violating local content laws by not engaging people from the host community, while others said that NNPCL had relied more on incompetent hands.

A youth leader from Alode, one of the host communities, Igwe Shadrach, said that the communities had sought an audience with the management of Technimont, NNPCL and its subsidiaries, but were rebuffed.

“We have been neglected and marginalised for too long. We are demanding for our rights and benefits from the company. They completely abandoned the Local Content Act in their labour process,” Shadrack declared. (The Guardian)