Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

SACOBSERVER.COM: Protestors Force Shell To Close Plant In Nigeria

SACOBSERVER.COM: Protestors Force Shell To Close Plant In Nigeria

Posted 4 May 2004

(NNPA) – Protesters from a Niger Delta village have forced Shell to close a major oil-pumping facility and have demanded the firm keep its promise to rebuild a road that links their village to the outside world, residents said recently.

More than 200 protesters from Opherin village besieged Shell’s station near Erhiemu recently to protest their poverty despite living in an oil-rich area.

The facility has the capacity to pump 100,000 barrels daily from 24 oil wells. Eyewitnesses said the protest had forced it to shut down.

“We don’t have anything to show for our status as the leading oil-producing community in the delta,” community leader Peter Onovaye told reporters.

The unarmed protesters, including men, women and children, set up camp inside the facility located 25 miles north of Warri, a key operations base for oil companies in the Niger Delta.

Onovaye said the protesters would remain at the facility until Shell gave the community a pledge to rebuild the road, which he described as their only link with the rest of Nigeria and vital for moving agricultural produce out of the village, which is a farming community.

He said the villagers had resorted to protest action after Shell failed to respond favorably to a 90-day ultimatum to repair the road.

This story comes special to the NNPA from IRIN.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.