“Gelegele Ijaws Threaten Oil Shutdown Over 63 Years of Neglect, Issue 14-Day Ultimatum to FG and Edo Gov”

“Gelegele Ijaws Threaten Oil Shutdown Over 63 Years of Neglect, Issue 14-Day Ultimatum to FG and Edo Gov”

Hundreds of Ijaw residents in Gelegele Community, located in Ovia Northeast Local Government Area of Edo State, took to the streets yesterday to protest the total lack of basic infrastructure in their oil-rich region.

The demonstrators decried the absence of motorable roads, hospitals, and functional schools—despite decades of oil exploration in the area. They issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, Edo State government, and oil companies operating in the community, demanding urgent intervention or a complete shutdown of all oil-related activities in Gelegele.

Protesters carried placards with messages such as: “No road to Gelegele,” “Our secondary school is dilapidated,” “Tantita come to our aid,” “There is no NDDC project in Gelegele,” and “Say no to gas flaring in Gelegele.”

Chairman of the Gelegele Executive Council, Mr. Omaghomi Olu-Derimon, said the lack of infrastructure has cut off several Ijaw communities from the rest of the state. He lamented that the only secondary school in the area is in ruins, lacking chairs and qualified teachers.

Omaghomi also questioned why Gelegele, an oil-producing community, had not benefited from any Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) projects.

“We are here not because we are happy or celebrating, but because we are mourning. We want Nigerians and the world to know how we feel about oppression, injustice, and the subjugation of our rights by the federal, state, and local governments—successive administrations alike,” he said.

“The Gelegele story is a pathetic one. As you can see, we are standing behind a gas flare. I want the United Nations, the Nigerian Government, the Edo State Government, and the local government to know that this gas flaring has been ongoing for 63 years, since oil was discovered in Gelegele Community in 1963. We have been roasted by this gas flare. Neither the federal nor the state governments pay any attention to the pains of the Gelegele people.’’

He described the collapse of the education system in the area as “pathetic,” emphasizing that the only secondary school lacks teachers despite the community’s contributions to Nigeria’s oil economy and environment.

“Today, we are rising. We are saying that our education system has been destroyed, everything that is dear to us has been destroyed. It is pathetic that we don’t have teachers in our schools, despite being an oil-producing community—home to the largest forest reserve in West Africa, the Gelegele Forest Reserve…”

“Today, there is no NDDC project in our community, despite being an oil-producing area and hosting the first indigenous oil company in Nigeria, Dubri Oil Limited.”

He further highlighted the dire state of healthcare, citing that over 500 lives have been lost due to the lack of functional health facilities. Women and children, in particular, are left vulnerable with no access to medical care or support.

“People are dying in the community because there is no doctor in the health clinic, no nurses, and before a sick person can be rushed from Gelegele to Benin, they often die on the way due to the poor state of the roads.”

Olu-Derimon also lamented the lack of political representation, stating that Gelegele has no voice in the Edo State House of Assembly or Executive Council, nor was anyone from the community appointed to the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Area Development Commission (EDSOGPADEC).

“We don’t have a representative, we have no voice in Edo State… We bear the brunt; we are roasted day and night, yet we do not feel the benefits of our crude oil—the gold mine.”

He stressed that failure to meet their demands within two weeks would result in the shutdown of all oil operations in the community and surrounding areas.

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“If these issues are not addressed within 14 days—two weeks—we will have no alternative but to shut down the operations of all oil companies working between Gelegele Community and the Gelegele Forest Reserve.”

“We want to inform the Ijaw Nation, the Ijaw Youth Congress, and other critical stakeholders in the Ijaw nation about this 14-day ultimatum… It is time to define our destiny.”

“We also want to inform the Minister of Regional Planning that we can no longer tolerate marginalisation. While things are going well elsewhere, we who are suffering, see no benefit.”

The protest has sparked growing attention across the Niger Delta and could signal broader unrest if the demands go unmet.