Scores of women and men under the aegis of Okpe Oil and Gas Forum, on Friday, stormed Seplat Energy Flow Stations across Sapele Local Government Area of Delta and shut them down, demanding a better working conditions for indigenes working with the company.
The local folks also demanded that the company treat them equally like their counterparts in other places.
The protesters were armed with placards with inscriptions such as “Treat us well in our land,’ “We are not slaves,” “We are suffering in our land in spite of the blessings,” and “We are tired of being treated badly,” among others.
The women, armed with palm fronds and tugs of trees, engaged in songs and cultural dance at the Oton and Amukpe flow station.
Speaking at the gate of the company, Comrade Eloho Ogodo, the financial secretary of Sapele Okpe Community, said they were tired of being slaves in their own land.
He added that the Okpes were peaceful people, but “we are working like elephants and taking home peanuts.”
According to him, “we are not here on our own, we are under the instruction of the president of the forum, Chief Dickson Omoraka, our people are being employed in low positions like messenger, cleaner, security men and so on and paid very poorly that is why we said we are fed up, not until they listen to us we are not leaving here today”.
The vice chairman of the Sapele Okpe Community and another member of the Okpe Oil &Gas Forum, Mr Freeborn Ogodo, said it was disheartening to be treated like a slave in one’s own land.
He insisted that the Okpes have been too quiet for too long, adding “Imagine our brothers being poorly paid compared to the others.
“They say we are only fit for low jobs and we are paid N40,000 or N50,000; while the same people in other places are paid hugely. We are fed up of the continuous maltreatment from Seplat energy.”
Mrs Victoria Kekeke, speaking on behalf of the mothers in the community, expressed the pain of seeing their children unemployed or employed in low-paying positions.
“She highlighted the struggles of impoverished widows and stressed the importance of Seplat considering the qualifications of the Okpe workers and providing them with fair opportunities and wages.
Mrs Rebecca Atori, a member of the Egweya group of the Sapele Okpe Community, condemned the practice of paying Okpe workers meager salaries while others in the same positions earn significantly more.
She emphasised the cruelty of such treatment and called for an end to the disparity.
Meanwhile, the oil company could not be reached to react, while a worker who walked out of the yard, whom the protesters thought was going to address, declined, saying he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
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