Vacate Akwa Ibom with immediate effect - Militants order IOCs

Militants operating on the platform of Unyekisong Akwa Ibom have commanded all International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the state to vacate with immediate effect.

A statement by the group’s leader and deputy, General Dede Udofia and Major Ibanga Ekang, respectively, said the vacation notice became necessary due to unwholesome atrocities perpetrated by multinational oil companies on oil-producing communities.

The group said it is a coalition of freedom fighters in Akwa Ibom comprising former members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), Movement for the Actualisation of the Niger Delta Republic, Niger Delta People’s Salvation Force, Niger Delta Avengers, Niger Delta Liberation Force and Niger Delta Movement for Justice and Niger Delta Warriors

They expressed shock and displeasure over what it described as “passive response of the current administration of the state to the constant cries and yearnings of the suffering masses from these communities whose sources of livelihood, property and lives have been completely destroyed as a result of the operations of these oil firms.

“As a result of the refusal of the oil firms operating in the territorial waters of Akwa Ibom State, apart from ExxonMobil & Savannah Petroleum to locate their operational bases in the state, and their refusal to implement their corporate social responsibility as well as the provisions of the Nigerian Local Content Law in their employment and contract policies, we hereby advise them and their subsidiaries/partners to vacate Akwa Ibom State with immediate effect.

“It is very sad to observe that since the commencement of operations by Addax, Moni Pulo, Chevron, Century, Oriental Energy, Savannah Petroleum, Total E & P, SEEPCO, AFREN, AMNI, etc. and their subsidiaries/partners in the various oil fields in Akwa Ibom territorial waters, they have enjoyed relative peace without any hostilities to their projects compared to other oil communities in the Niger Delta region, but our people have not derived any substantial benefits from these oil companies, rather we have been subjected to unwholesome deprivations and marginalization."