A violent protest by youth in Akwa-Ibom State has left at least six people dead and a number of villages in ruins.The affected villages, located in Effiat, Mbo Local Government Area of
the state include Inua Abasi, Mbe Ndoro, Ibuot Uton, Utan Brama, and
Utan Effiong.
The youth reportedly went on a rampage to protest the lack of basic
amenities in their communities and the non-payment of compensation by
the oil companies operating in the area.According to reports, the crisis started last week but escalated
yesterday. Thousands of the fleeing villagers are currently taking
refuge at Ibaka beach with household items rescued from the inferno.
The rampaging youths also accused two prominent sons of the area of
depriving them of their entitlements and diverting to their private
pockets, monies paid by the oil companies for the development of the
communities.
One of the youth leaders of Mbo Youth Forum, who declined to give his
name, said that they were disappointed by the greed of their prominent
brothers, who have turned round to betray the communities.
He said: “Six people died as a result of this denial and deprivation
only last week, and no one knows how many lives would have been lost
today (yesterday).
“We had written to the Presidency, the state government, the police and
the other security formations of the gross misconduct of those two
individuals, but there has been no response.
No comments:
Post a Comment