By Chioma Iruke
Protesting youths from the Finima community in Rivers State, Nigeria in the early hours of Thursday blocked the gates of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) over allegations of rights infringements on host communities.
The protesters who were seated at the entrance, prevented workers of the company who arrived early in the morning to take over the shift from their colleagues from gaining access into the premises, while those who did night shift were trapped inside.
Finima which is the host community to NLNG, was demolished and the NLNG built on its premises, hence the blockade of the NLNG gate to express their frustration.
The leaders of the Finima community, who were yet to make a formal address as at the time of filling this report, hinted that all host community rights go to the larger Bonny leadership, whereas the entire land housing the NLNG complex belongs to Finima community.
A leader, who spoke anonymously as he was not authorized to speak to journalists, said they have used many other forms of communication in the past to seek resolution of the issues to no avail, as several memos written to the government and the NLNG had fallen on deaf ears, making the protest become their last resort.
As at the time of writing this report, Soldiers and other security agencies have arrived to take position as tension gathered.
