Irare protesters in Delta State, on Monday, shut down the flow-station at Jones Creek, an oil facility managed by NPDC/NECONDE OML 42 JV, after driving workers away.
The demonstrators, hailing from Egwa, Odidi, Bayan, and Okerenkoko communities in Warri-West, have been enduring darkness since December 2023.
They demanded that the oil company connect them to the gas turbine serving their area to restore their electricity supply.
The protesters issued a three-month ultimatum for the company to comply.
The protest, led predominantly by women, saw participants chanting solidarity songs and dancing into the company’s premises.
They carried placards with messages like, ‘NECONDE/NPDC No light, No Operation. Give us light’, ‘Okerenkoko Community is tired of darkness. Give us light. NECONDE/NPDC’, ‘Let there be light in Okerenkoko’, and ‘Enough is enough of darkness’.
The leader of the protest, Esther Ene, told reporters, “It’s light issue that brought us here. As we are here, if darkness is sweet, they should shut down the flow-station so that we will stay in darkness with them.”
She emphasized, “We are not supposed to be in darkness. Anybody they will call from above, we are ready to stay with that person. If it’s Tinubu that comes here, we will stay with him here. They should find a way. The highest we are giving them is three months, we should have light day and night. They should fix the turbine for us so that we will have light.”
She warned that if the company does not meet their demands, they will target additional flow-stations in the area.
Another protester, Akpoaboere HelpMe, also spoke to the media, saying, “We’re suffering. We don’t have drinking water. Only if rain falls before we can get water to drink. The situation has affected the Nigeria Maritime University (NMU). Students now go about in search of where to charge their mobile phones. Students can no longer study as many are leaving the town already. We are suffering again because there’s no network from telecommunication providers. NPDC/NECONDE OML 42 JV have refused to give us light. Please, give us light within the next three days or we shut you down completely.”
