Calm has been restored in Bonny island, Rivers State following the suspension of the planned protest by youths of the area against the activities of the multinational oil companies operating on the island.
The Trumpet gathered that mobilization for the protest started on January 12, when members of the Bonny Youth Federation (BYF) intensified mobilisation to shut all entry and exit routes to the Island including markets.and offices.
This was said to have raised concerns that aroused some of the biggest stakeholders in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, including the multinationals and the NLNG.
The state government was understood to have been contacted and the state police command allegedly placed on alert.
It was however gathered that the Finima Youth Congress (FYC) which ought to be a wing of the Bonny Youth Federation threw a spanner in the mobilisation efforts, when the body released a statement disassociating Finima people from what they termed invasion of their area by Bonny people.
This attracted instant condemnation from the Bonny Youth Federation and the Bonny Kingdom Development Committee, who said the Finima youths were sponsored to sabotage the protest.
Apparently sensing a confrontation on Monday, )the authorities and the multinationals began contacts to stop the protests.
Discussions were said to have continued all of Sunday night, but the youths had already moved in to implement the shut down.
It was gathered that a truce was reached to suspend the protest, reopen the Island, and allow a meeting to hold between the oil firms led by the NLNG and the Bonny people.
The groups that held down the town later moved to the Government Secondary School in Bonny to dispel the anger and energy they had planned to pour during the shutdown as they resorted to drumming, singing, and dancing.
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As at the time of filing this report, the Bonny Kingdom Development Committee Chairman, Edward Hart, was billed to address the crowd and direct the next line of action.
However in a statement entitled ” Position of BKDC on the status of Bonny Kingdom: Lacking in the midst of plenty and non-implementation of corporate social responsibility projects by multinationals”, the people outlined a 14- point agenda which they sought expeditious remediation by the government and multinationals operating in Bonny.
They also outlined a 27 – point amelioration strategy or how to handle the grievances.
Among the amelioration strategy were an immediate needs assessment to articulate the critical, specific and developmental needs of Bonny Local Government Area, a probe of the salary structure of the LNG Train 7 project against the backdrop of agreements reached on the project with investors and the community, a review of the corporate policies of the multinationals that have ensured the exclusion of Bonny indigenes in the award of contracts.
Others include, a review of the employment processes of the multinationals that has comtinued to exclude Bonny indigenes, immediate establishment of a host community development trust fund by the oil companies, among others
