Three local indigenous who participated in the ongoing nonviolent demonstration against Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) installations, according to leaders of Ugborodo in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, are allegedly gone.
The leaders of the community claim that on Wednesday night, following an allegedly violent attack by Naval troops, the indigenous people vanished in the bottom of the Escravos River.
The three missing indigenous people were reportedly among those demonstrating at the CNL’s facilities against the Petroleum Industry Act’s non-implementation, according to Obasanjo News24.
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A leader of the Ugborodo community named Alex Eyengho revealed this in an early Thursday, November 23, text message given to media.
On the orders of a PGPA Boss at Chevron Nigeria Limited as well as other high officials of the oil and gas major, he claimed, “a vicious attack was launched by the Commanding Officer (C.O.) in Chevron Nigeria Limited Tank Farm in Ugborodo Community (Escravos) and his men.”
Eyengho further asserted that if the peaceful protests in the region continue, the Nigerian Navy, acting through the CO at the Chevron Nigeria Limited Tank Farm in the Ugborodo community, Escravos River, has threatened to shoot at and kill them.
He claimed that earlier on Wednesday, when he arrived to speak with the demonstrators, Olayinka Aliu, the Navy Chief of Staff, made the threat.
“Let me state for the record that the Navy in the region, led by Olayinka Aliu, should be held accountable if the ongoing peaceful demonstration against the obvious crimes and wickedness committed by Chevron against its important host communities gets out of control.
“The peaceful protesters have additional existential issues with Chevron, aside from the ongoing issue of Chevron’s willful non-implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) under existing laws and regulations.
This is one demonstration that will last a long time. We’re adamant. We are unwavering. “There is no retreat, no surrender,” the head of the community declared.
Eyengho vowed that neither Chevron nor the security services could scare the Ugborodo people.
“They ought to be prepared to shoot and murder every member of the host communities participating in this protest, including the Ugborodo community.”
But in a brief response to the accusations, Esimaje Brikkin, General Manager, Policy, Government, and Public Affairs of Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, stated, “Nobody is missing.”
Through Victor Anyaegbudike, Manager of Communication, Brikkin had a phone conversation with a Obasanjo News24 correspondent in Warri.
“There’s nothing like that,” he remarked, adding that CNL has not yet responded to the situation.
He instructed the Obasanjo News24 Correspondent to inquire with the Ugborodo community members on whether anyone is actually missing.
The spokesman refuted claims that the Nigerian Navy had been corrupted by CNL. He said, “We have no authority over the Navy. We don’t give Navy instructions. They are security forces of the government.
