Niger Delta youth accuse oil company of contempt

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23 March 2011

Niger Delta youth accuse oil company of contempt

 
Niger Delta youth in Akwa Ibom State have demanded for compensation for oil spillage from Exxon Mobil. The youth who held a protest march to Edoho platform in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State yesterday, claimed that they had won two cases against Mobil in the Federal High Court, Yenogoa and the Appeal Court, Lagos, leading to their demands for the compensation.

Alleging that Mobil had deliberately failed to adhere to the court directive compelling it to pay compensation money for oil spills that occurred in 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2005 in the region, the youths noted that they embarked on the peaceful protest to present their grievances to the oil company against the delayed payment of the compensation worth millions of naira.

The protesting youth numbering about 2,500 were from four organisations namely: Ijaw National Congress (INC), Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Ijaw Survival Movement of the Niger Delta ( ISMOND) and Movement for the Survival of Ethnic Nationality in Niger Delta (MOFEND) came under one body to canvass for the attention of Mobil.

They are made up of all aggrieved parties relating to the oil spill issue drawn from the seven Niger Delta states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Edo, Delta and Ondo.