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Indigenes of Egbema, in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State, on Friday staged a peaceful protest in front of an abandoned gas plant in the community.
The gas plant was said to have been abandoned by the Federal Government for more than 13 years.
They asked the Federal Government to complete the gas plant, and warned that they would shut down the activities of all oil companies operating in the area, if the demand was not met.
The protesters, who spoke under the aegis of ‘Egbema Elites’, said they had been marginalised by the federal and state governments, as well as oil companies operating in the area.
The leader of the protesters, Francis Uzor, said the community had not had electricity for more than 30 years due to the failure of the government to complete the gas plant and other abandoned projects in the area.
Uzor said, “We are here to find out why the Egbema gas plant which was awarded in 2001 has been abandoned since 13 years now, but unfortunately we have been shut out.
“Egbema people are very peaceful; we are not as restive and violent as people think we are. We are here to know if there is any way we can help out. Since I was born, we have not had electricity yet we have the highest deposit of gas in the whole of Africa.”
Also speaking, one of the protesters, Ademachukwu Chimaraoke called on anti-graft agencies to probe how the sum of N18bn, which was allegedly earmarked for the project, was spent.
Chimaraoke warned that the Egbema indigenes would take the protest to Abuja should the Federal Government fail to revive the project in two weeks.
He noted that Vice President Yemi Osibanjo had assured that the gas plant would be revived during his visit to the state in 2017.
A woman leader, Mrs Elizabeth Opara, added that women from the community would protest naked in Abuja if the demand was not met.
