By Eric Moore
TENSIONS are rising in Rumuekpe community in Emuoha Local Government Area of Rivers State, as the youth leadership has issued a 14-day ultimatum to Aradel Holdings Plc, demanding employment opportunities and social amenities or face a total blockade of the river used for its oil operations.
The youth leadership, led by Ovundah Umeka, said their patience had worn thin after years of being ignored by the oil company despite its continued extraction of resources from their land.
Umeka expressed: “Aradel has been operating on our river for years, yet there is no employment for Rumuekpe youths. We don’t have good roads, no clean water, nothing. We have pleaded with them because we don’t want any crisis, but they have refused to listen. Our youths are now bent on protesting.”
He accused Aradel of failing to recognize Rumuekpe as a host community, despite having a booster station in the area where it receives crude oil.
“We are giving them 14 days from today. If they refuse to heed our demands, we will block the Sombriero River so their vessels cannot pass. It will be a peaceful demonstration, but we are ready to make the whole world know our suffering. If they want to come and kill us, let them come. It’s either they employ our people like they employ people from other communities, or they kill us,” Umeka declared.
The Rumuekpe youths also lamented the environmental degradation caused by Aradel’s operations, accusing the company of polluting their river, which serves as a source of drinking water and fishing for the community.
Umeka said: “The river is between Ekpeye and Rumuekpe; we drink from it, we fish from it. But, crude oil has contaminated it. We asked Aradel to dredge the river, but they refused. We even sent letters to their head office in Lagos, but they ignored us.”
The Public Relations Officer of the Rumuekpe Youths Forum, Emmanuel Ovunze, reinforced the community’s frustration, stating that despite three years of operations, Aradel had failed to employ a single local youth or award contracts to community members.
Ovunze stressed: “We are not violent, but we are using this channel to call Aradel to order. Rumuekpe youths need to be carried along. We need clean drinking water, electricity, and a road. Our people are dying – no hospitals, no jobs, nothing. The company must listen to us.”
The looming protest comes at a time when Rivers State is already grappling with political instability following the federal government’s declaration of a state of emergency.
Meanwhile, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, Executive Director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC-Nigeria, has called on Aradel to act swiftly to avoid further escalation.
Fyneface appealed: “The state is already fragile with the state of emergency and suspension of the governor. This is not the time for protests. I urge the sole administrator of Rivers State to intervene and prevail on Aradel to address the concerns of the Rumuekpe people.”
As the 14-day ultimatum counts down, all eyes are on Aradel and the Rivers State government to see whether the demands of the community would be met or if the situation will spiral into a full-blown confrontation.
There has not been any reaction from the company’s management.