Patrick Odey Youths from Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Monday barricaded ExxonMobil gates in Ibeno to protest a fresh oil spill that polluted the water bodies of the affected communities. This is as the Director General of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, Chukwuemeka Woke, who was on an operational visit to the affected areas, sued for peace among the protesting youths. PUNCH Metro reports that the spill which occurred in the early hours of Thursday negatively impacted more than 27 coastal communities, cutting across Ibeno, Esit Eket and Onna local government areas.
The youths who had stormed the premises of ExxonMobil on Friday sustained the protest on Monday, beating drums, dancing throughout the day and chanting solidarity songs. The village head of Mkpanah, Ubong Denis Essenem, who spoke while receiving the NOSDRA DG in his palace, lamented the incessant spillages allegedly by ExxonMobil in the area. He expressed disappointment that each time there was a spillage, ExxonMobil would come out to say it was not their crude, adding that there is no other major oil company in the area as other operators are marginal fields that operate upland.
“This is not the first time a protest is going on here. This is to ensure that ExxonMobil will not shirk its responsibility of cleaning up the environment. For the past year, there have been spillages like this over three times but they (ExxonMobil) will deny them.
“We don’t have any major oil co.