In a recent development in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, a new militant group called the Creek Reform Warriors has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). The ultimatum demands the unconditional recall of local workers from Ogulagha and Odimodi communities in Delta State who were sacked in 2019.
The Creek Reform Warriors, a formidable group, has threatened to shut down SPDC facilities and bring oil production in the country to a standstill if the oil company fails to comply with their demand to reinstate the affected workers.
Vanguard reporters reached out to SPDC’s Media Relations Manager, Bola Essien-Nelson, for comment on the matter but received no response to their phone calls and inquiries on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The self-proclaimed leader of the Creek Reform Warriors, Commander Igbokuro Tinwei, issued a statement expressing their intentions. He warned, “If the workers from Ogulagha and Odimodi communities are not immediately recalled, we will shut down all SPDC operations in the Niger Delta, including their pipelines. This is a matter of life and death.”
Tinwei further stated, “We are serious about our cause and have a team of specialists in various fields. Our struggle is to liberate our people from the unemployment inflicted by SPDC and other International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the region.”
He went on to emphasize their determination by adding, “We can confidently declare that all preparations and plans are in place to halt Nigerian crude oil production completely. We will not relent until the IOCs employ our people. There is no turning back.”
The Creek Reform Warriors also called upon President Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and hold Shell management accountable. They warned that the consequences of their attacks on Shell’s production facilities would have a negative impact on the federal government’s ability to meet its crude oil supply to the world market.
The group stated that Shell had previously made promises to recall the workers after the COVID-19 pandemic, but had repeatedly failed to fulfill their commitments. They demanded that not only should the company reinstate the sacked workers at the Forcados Terminal in Ogulagha community, but also create new employment opportunities for qualified individuals from the oil-producing communities.
As tensions rise in the Niger Delta, it remains to be seen how the Shell Petroleum Development Company will respond to the ultimatum issued by the Creek Reform Warriors. The fate of the affected workers and the stability of oil production in the region hang in the balance.
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