Hundreds of women from Elem Kalabari in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State on Monday staged a peaceful protest at the Cawthorne Channel 2 Jetty, condemning what they described as the systematic exclusion of host communities from oil-sector benefits and the worsening environmental degradation of their ancestral land.
Defying a heavy downpour, the women converged at the jetty in a disciplined but resolute demonstration triggered by the recent award of a pipeline security and surveillance contract by NNPC Eighteen Limited to a company they said is neither based in Elem Kalabari nor in Rivers State.
Community leaders said the protest, dubbed the “Mother of All Protests,” marked the end of years of restraint by a community that hosts some of Nigeria’s most strategic oil assets yet remains largely underdeveloped.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Local Content Law Violated: Kalabari Demands First Right of Refusal” and “We Carry the Burden, They Take the Benefits,” the women accused oil operators of ignoring provisions of Nigeria’s Local Content Law and the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which grant host communities priority consideration in contracts within their territory.
The protesters questioned what they described as a contradiction in the PIA, noting that while Section 257(2) holds host communities responsible for sabotage, those same communities are excluded from securing facilities located on their land.
“How can we be blamed for insecurity and yet denied the right to protect our own territory?” a protest leader asked.
Elem Kalabari serves as a major export corridor for crude oil from OML 18, including production from Cawthorne Channels 1, 2 and 3, Awoba, and Krakrama, with crude evacuated daily through its waterways to the Atlantic Ocean. Despite this strategic role, the women alleged that none of the vessels involved in these operations are owned by Elem Kalabari indigenes, Kalabari people, or companies based in Rivers State.
They further accused oil companies of sidelining traditional authorities, including the Amanyanabo of Elem Kalabari, and disregarding customary engagement protocols despite earning millions of dollars daily from operations conducted through Kalabari waters.
The women also lamented rising unemployment among local youths, many of whom, they said, were sponsored through tertiary education only to return home jobless while oil companies operate profitably on their land.
According to the protesters, workers who were once full staff under previous operators were downgraded to contract staff with reduced pay, poor working conditions, and no job security. In some instances, local workers allegedly trained personnel brought in from outside the state, only for the trainees to be offered permanent employment.
Beyond economic exclusion, the women accused oil operators of causing severe environmental damage in communities such as Mbi-Ama, Moni-Kiri, Portuguese Kiri, and Jacob-Ama, citing oil pollution, depleted fish stocks, dying mangroves, and constant disturbance from barging and operational discharges.
They said repeated complaints to regulatory agencies had produced no meaningful response.
A recent visit to Elem Kalabari by journalist Al Humphrey Onyanabo, alongside the Amanyanabo of Elem Kalabari, HRH Da Amakiri Tubo, Dabaye Amakiri I, shortly after his receipt of staff of office from Governor Siminalayi Fubara, painted what was described as a grim picture of neglect.
Despite decades of oil production, the community reportedly has no public electricity, no functional schools or health facilities, no market, and no visible economic infrastructure. At night, the area is lit only by gas flares and offshore vessels loading crude oil.
The women have vowed to sustain the protest until their demands are addressed, warning that continued silence from government and operating companies could lead to escalated actions, including the shutdown of operations at the flow station.
After decades of what they described as abandonment, the women of Elem Kalabari say they are no longer prepared to remain silent.
