According to reports, Soldiers on Monday, August 10, opened fire on protestors, who barricaded OB/OB gas plant operated by the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Omoku, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Council of Rivers State, leaving many injured.
Some indigenes of Obosi quarters in Omoku had since last week barricaded the gas plant over alleged failure of NAOC to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the community.
It was gathered that NAOC called on the soldiers who stripped old women and manhandled old men that were part of the protest, following protracted deadlocked efforts to placate protesters.
It was learnt that the soldiers decided to use force to evict the protesters because of their refusal to allow engineers of the gas plant access the facility to fix the turbine that supplies free electricity to Omoku and adjoining communities.
Obosi Youth President, Pureheart Ekeukwu, claimed that the soldiers were deployed by NAOC to brutalise innocent protesters who were merely asking the company to live up to its responsibility.
“Agip mobilised the Nigerian army, and the soldiers came to drive out the protesters from the facility around midnight.
“They came and started beating old men and women. They stripped old women, forced them into their vehicle and dropped them at Omoku-Obrikom road that night. Three people are critical in the hospital now. Many others also sustained injuries,” he said.
According to him, it is morally offensive for soldiers to strip protesting old women.
“We are under panic now, but we will not call off the protest. We will end this protest when they meet our demands,” Ekeukwu insisted.
