Members of the Belema and Offoin-Ama communities in Rivers State this morning shut down operations by oil giant, Shell, at the Belema flow-station known as OML 25. The flow-station is located within the communities’ land in Kula Kingdom in Akuku Toru local government area of the state.
According to reports, about 1500 women, youths, and chiefs from the two communities marched down to the flow-station to protest what they described as Shell’s “obnoxious acts” and the underdevelopment of their communities.
Raising a familiar complaint by inhabitants of the impoverished swamplands that produce most of Nigeria's oil, the protesters said they had received no benefits from the region's oil wealth. They demanded an end to the oil pollution that has ruined much of their land.