People of Bomu Community in Gokana local government area of Rivers State has staged a protest round the community over what they described as high-handedness by officials the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, the agency responsible for cleaning of oil impacted cites in the area.
The locals who staged the protest last week, alleged that some handlers of HYPREP projects in the community have connived with some ‘big men’ in the community to thwart their fortunes.
The protesters comprising women, men and youths of the community demanded for compliance with the Local Content Law as they urged HYPREP and its contractors to show transparency in their employment and subcontracts. Moreso, they alleged that certain elites from the community have received over Seventy Five Million Naira from HYPREP and embezzled same, adding that the money belonged to the community and was paid into the private bank account of s certain “chief” in the community.
Addressing the protesters, Chief Roland Oku who is a member of the Royal Family of Bomu decried the poor handling of the clean-up in Bomu and the fact that HYPREP decides to bypass existing legal leadership structure in the community to relate with whomever they like.
He however urged that the protesters should remain peaceful while an effort to reach out to the authorities concerned intensifies.
Although, HYPREP has not responded to the allegations, the agency had earlier at several community engagements stated that its projects are people-centric and that it would not subvert the will of the people for any personal gain.
