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NIGER DELTA WOMEN PROTEST AGAINST CHEVRON JULY 2002 |
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For the past 7 days, 600 women from villages surrounding the ChevronTexaco run Escravos oil terminal in the Niger Delta have non-violently taken over the facility to bring attention to their plight. The women are demanding jobs, education services, community services and economic investment in their communities from ChevronTexaco, which has repeatedly failed to follow-through on its commitments to communities. Chevron Texaco extracts more than 400,000 barrels of oil per year from the Niger Delta. The vast majority is processed at the Escravos facility, which is also the site of ChevronTexacos gas processing facility. Communities around the facility have been plagued by oil spills which destroy their fishing economy, and flaring which causes acid rain, skin diseases, asthma and other negative health affects. Not only has the traditional economies been severely disrupted by oil operations, few jobs, economic opportunities or social services are realized in the affected areas. In the past, ChevronTexaco has responded to demonstrations by relying on the military and police who have violently attacked demonstrations. ChevronTexaco has even provided access to its helicopters to the military to attack protesters. July 17, 2002 Delta Womens Protest Spreads [We have] nothing to show for over 30 years of the companys existence.Lucky Lelekumo, spokeswoman for Ijaw activists. "We will no longer take this nonsense, this is the beginning of the trouble they have been looking for." Anunu Uwawah, Escravos protest organizer. The occupation of ChevronTexacos Escravos export terminal in the Niger Delta by over 600 unarmed women from surrounding affected communities has spread to at least four more ChevronTexaco flow-stations in the delta. The multi-ethnic group of women, primarily Itsekiri and Ijaw, are demanding that the oil company fulfill its obligation to the communities to provide jobs and resources for education, water, electricity, a community centre and support for economic development. Ijaw women from communities approximately 80km from Escravos have taken over additional flow-stations.The Ijaw Youth Council occupied Chevrons Parabe I Platform in 1998 as a protest against the impacts of oil development in Operation Climate Change. That demonstration ended with the Nigerian military using Chevron helicopters to attack protesters resulting in two deaths and dozens of injuries. |
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Women's Testimonies at the Chevron ProtestERA TESTIMONIES July 22, 2002 PROTESTING WOMEN CONTINUE OCCUPATION OF CHEVRON FLOW-STATIONS Over three thousand protesting Ijaw women from the Gbaramatu Clan and other communities in the Niger Delta continue the direct occupation of Chevron’s flow stations in Nigeria’s Delta State. In this special update, the Environmental Rights Action (ERA), present the voices of the protesting women speaking from the occupied Abiteye Flow Station. "Chevron has neglected us. They have neglected us for a long time. For example, any time spills occur, they don't do proper clean-up or pay compensation. Our roofs are destroyed by their chemical. No good drinking water in our rivers. Our fishes are killed on daily basis by their chemicals, even the fishes we catch in our rivers, they smell of crude oil. Chevron know the right thing to do, they intimidate us with (translation from Ijaw by Ms. Fanty Waripai) "Chevron is deceitful. They have deceived us several times and we know them better now. We won't leave this place till our demands are met" "We are women from Kenghangbene and other nearby communities. Kenghangbene hosts the Chevron flow-station (Abiteye). We are demonstrating here peacefully, not armed with anything except leaves. We are peaceful. We are occupying this facility because we are angry. We are angry because since 1970, the company came here, we have nothing to show for the pollution of our rivers and creeks, destruction of our forests and mangroves and the noise, and the gas flaring. We have complained and protested. All our complaints and protests fell on Chevron's deaf ears. We have nothing to show for this.. Look at my village from Warri to here, for an uninterrupted engine boat drive is about 2 hours, and we don't have clinic, no good drinking water, no road, no electricity and other necessities of life. Here, we have married women, unmarried women, and small girls. We have old women, young and small ones here demonstrating. Nobody mobilises us to do !
what we are doing. We are angry. We sleep here day and night. We are denied our rights as a people, to employment, good environment and so on. We will be here till Chevron answers our demands." WHAT YOU CAN DO: · Tell ChevronTexaco and the Nigerian government you support the demands of the women and their communities for a safe and conducive environment necessary for their survival. · Tell ChevronTexaco and the Nigerian government to meet the women's demands for jobs for their children, economic support for education and health services, and economic support for fishing and poultry farming demands. · Tell ChevronTexaco and the Nigerian government you are aware of their past practice of relying on the mobile police and soldiers to violently attack protesters and that you demand a just and non-violent resolution. |