Physically-challenged persons numbering over 50 have disrupted activities at ExxonMobil, both in Eket and at the conglomerate’s tank farm in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State.
It was learnt that trouble started on Tuesday at 4pm when the physically-challenged persons barricaded the main gate of ExxonMobil, Qua Iboe Terminal, with their wheelchairs and crutches, demanding for social welfare from the company.
Workers were said to have been trapped inside the company premises after closing from work on Wednesday.
It was gathered that the protesters refused all entreaties to vacate the gate for workers to go home.
The protesters were said to have finally paralysed activities of the company on Thursday after mobilising more of their members to take over the security gates at Mobil Airstrip Eket.
The action was said to have forced the management of the multinational to ask workers to stop work for security reasons.
Speaking on behalf of other physically-challenged persons, Mr. Udoh Ekanem, said the company owed them a social responsibility in form of training of its members, special scholarship programmes and empowerment through financial assistance.
“We are not mad men to just wake up and begin to disrupt Mobil’s activities. We had on many occasions appealed to the company to assist us as they are doing to our colleagues in Bonny, Port Harcourt, and Lagos.
“But the company keeps promising and failing. They treat us with disdain while they take care of our colleagues in a state like Lagos where they do not explore or exploit oil,” Ekanem lamented.
However, heavy security presence of the police and other paramilitary organisations were noticed at the Mobil Airstrip and the Housing Estate both in Eket and Ibeno.
The company’s spokesman, Mr. Ogechukwu Udeaga, confirmed the demonstration on Tuesday, October 25 and Wednesday, October 26, 2017, at the JV Qua Iboe Terminal complex in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom, by a group of people purportedly representing the Niger Delta Great-Minds Foundation of People with Deformities.
He said that MPN had no prior engagements or notifications from this group.
He said, “The JV is seriously concerned that the blockade of the facility follows an evolving pattern of unjustified, repeated and targeted disruption of our operations, which is creating a very unsafe environment for the JV personnel, contractors and communities who interface with our operations.
“MPN has notified relevant government authorities of this growing threat to our personnel and operations. We remain committed to safety as a foremost priority in our operations.”
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