“Today, my people and I are protesting to SPDC and to the Federal Government,”Local leader Sabu Martins said. “Koroama is a host community and has the largest proven gas and oil reserve in the entire Shell operations in this area.”
Shell Spokesman Joseph Obari confirmed the closure was due to the protest and said that the Bayelsa State government was mediating talks between the community and the company. He mentioned that two neighboring communities are supplied with back-up power under a 2006 agreement, but due to the limitations of the existing infrastructure, the plant has been unable to expand to supplying other areas.
Ankio Briggs, a community rights activist, told The Punch that Koroama residents weren’t asking for much. “This story is about host communities who I call the owners of the resources, it is about self determination, it is about corporate social responsibility, the demand is just and right,” she said.
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