Hoodlums abduct community leader, kill oil workers
Residents lament years of neglect by multinational oil companies, govt
Imo State, according to Governor Hope Uzodinma, became the fourth largest oil producing state in the country after 43 oil wells were recovered from Rivers State recently. But many oil producing communities in the state received the news with mixed feelings on account of the ugly experiences of the existing oil bearing communities. Worse still, the relative peace they enjoyed in the past has been eroded by the untoward activities of illegal oil bunkerers which have put their lives in perpetual danger.
“On May 8, 2021, our chairman was kidnapped. He has not been released till date. Nobody knows if he is still alive. On Monday last week, seven workers of an oil company were ambushed on their way to work and killed by a notorious gang terrorising our communities.”
Those were the words of Mazi, a native of Awara, one of the communities that make up the Egbema/Ohaji oil bearing communities, as he began the tales of the community’s battles with incessant attacks by hoodlums.
Many of the oil bearing communities have not known peace in recent times as illegal oil bunkerers and other criminal elements have made life unbearable for them. Many of the locals were said to have fled the communities to seek refuge in Owerri and its environs.
Some of the natives would not speak on the subject matter even under anonymity for fear of being attacked by the hoodlums.
Findings revealed that the ugly development in many of the communities was fuelled by years of neglect by multinational oil companies and successive governments in the state.
After the kidnap of the community leader, Mazi said: “We got in touch with the kidnappers, they said their action was because there is no development in our community. As you can see, there is no electricity, no good road, no water, no hospital. These were their agitations.
“The hoodlums also went as far as burning the equipment of the oil companies. There is a particular group led by one Emperor, which is unleashing terror on the community. We have been calling on the state and federal government to come to our aid by making sure that this man and his group are arrested all to no avail.”
He added that Shell was threatening to pull out of the community because of the killing of the oil workers.
He said: “They have shut down but only doing some operations. Pipeline works are not going on again. The seven-kilometre road they wanted to start has not commenced, and they are saying it is because of the killings.”
The Nation
