Clashes Disrupt Activities At Oil, Gas Free Zone

Two persons were feared dead and many others injured in clashes at the Oil and Gas Free Zone (OGFZ), Onne in Eleme  local government area of Rivers State Monday. Six others were also injured while many vehicles were vandalised during the crisis.
Youths from Okrika were said to have massed up at the OGFZ at about 4a.m. for a peaceful protest over what they considered government’s refusal to recognise them as a host community to the zone.
They argued that the area occupied by the zone included their land, and wondered why they should be denied recognition and treatment as a host community to the zone.
Chanting war songs and carrying placards, they barricaded the entrance to the seaport, stopping people from entering or leaving the port area.
Speaking to some journalist yesterday in Port Harcourt, Mr. T.E. Ajubo, a legal practitioner, said the Okrika people lost two young men in the protest.
Ajubo also said that five persons were yet to be seen while six persons who sustained injuries had been hospitalised.
While describing the attack on the protesters as unwarranted, he also pointed out that there had been an agitation by the people from Okrika to be included among the host communities to the FOT.
He stated that the expansion of the FOT by the government, particularly in the Phase A and B of the seaport was part of Okrika land, lamenting that the port operations have negatively affected the life span of Okrika people, aquatic lives and satellite communities.
He stated that: “We are not included as a host community. It is only Onne and Ogu they (government) recognised as host communities, while the new phase is inside Okrika.
“We have done everything possible to make sure this issue is solved. The life span of people of Okrika is between 45 and 60 years now. As a result of carbon dioxide, a lot of people die, fish in the water are dying, and our fishermen are suffering.
Reacting to the crisis, a member of the state House of Assembly, representing Eleme constituency, Josiah Olu, condemned the action by Okrika.
Olu stated that it was rather unfortunate that security operatives deployed in the area “can sit idly by and watch people come all the way from Okrika to lock up the port. As a people, we were taken aback, just woke up this morning to see that the gate of the Federal Ocean Terminal was locked; a coffin was kept and Okrika people were gyrating.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ahmad Muhammad (DSP), confirmed the incident but denied knowledge of any casualty.
He stated that the police had brought the incident under control and normalcy has returned to the zone.