Anambra’s Oil-Rich Host Community Protests Degradation, Negligence As Oil Company Celebrates 10th Anniversary Of Exploration

By Chuks Eke—-

While Sterling Petroleum Energy Exploration Company (SPEECO) celebrates its 10th ynniversary of oil exploration, indigenes of its host oil-rich community, Ogwu-Ikpelle, are currently embarking on an angry protest.

This riverine community, located in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, is protesting what they describe as hunger, oil spillage, poverty, negligence, and environmental degradation.

The community members stated that despite facing seasonal flooding challenges common to riverine areas, SPEECO’s presence in the area for over 10 years has presented a more formidable challenge for the people of Ogwu-Ikpelle.

The protest, which lasted for two days (Friday, January 16 and Saturday, January 17, 2026), saw hundreds of youths, women, children, and the elderly complaining bitterly against a decade of agony, denial, rejection, and degradation.

Armed with placards bearing inscriptions such as: “No visible basic amenities like tarred roads, hospitals, electricity, or pipe-borne water, except for a few boreholes recently provided by the state government and the APC-led party in the state,” the protesters neared violence.

They barricaded the company’s entrance gates and shut down the drills and electricity installations, resulting in damage to company property estimated at over N200 million.

Confirming the protesters’ grievances, the Traditional Prime Minister of Ogwu-Ikpelle Kingdom, Chief Akaka Damian Anigboso, lamented the numerous and unmentionable sufferings of his people.

He highlighted that despite the community being blessed with abundant oil, drilled for ten years, they have nothing tangible to show for it.

According to him, “Our oil is being explored and transferred to the Niger Delta. It has been 10 good years SPEECO has been operating in our land. None of the agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) we signed with them have been fulfilled or reached. Instead, they are here exploring oil, selling it, and enriching themselves only.”

The Traditional Prime Minister explained that despite four fully loaded tanker ships of oil being transferred daily to nneighbouringstates, their children remain uneducated, unempowered, and unemployed.

“They promised to provide scholarships from elementary to Master’s Degree level, and to build hospitals and provide pipe-borne water and electricity. We have made frantic efforts to both the Enugu and Anambra State Governments for aid, but to no avail.”

“They have neglected us. We are viewed as an oil-producing community with natural wealth but no basic amenities. Our women are rejected, and there is no town hall.

The ships that explore the oil have caused erosion near the river banks, leaving no fewer than thirty houses submerged and fallen into the River Niger.”

“We have instructed our youths to block their operations until they start doing what is right, or they can kill us all before they continue to mine the oil,” he fumed.

Also speaking, former House of Representatives member, Hon. Chuchu Onyema, stated that SPEECO has been operating in Ogwu-Ikpelle for over ten years.

“What the people are doing today is celebrating regret, degradation, and all sorts of negative attitudes coming from the company. We have tried to negotiate with them, but for reasons best known to them, they have made themselves inaccessible to us, which is the primary reason for this blockade over the past two days.”

“The objective was to stop them from working and to reach a round-table discussion for the final time. However, I believe in conflict resolution, not violence.

” Even the Constitution provides for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). We are supposed to receive three percent of the metered production, but we have nothing to show for it.”

“The only street light you see in Ogwu-Ikpelle is one I facilitated when I was in the House of Representatives. Other development projects typically come from the state government when there is an oil company. We are not begging for anything, but we expect to receive those things that are rightfully ours.”

“They are flaring gas, which could be converted to electricity. The telecommunications masts there are solely for their use, and they have 24-hour electricity. If we want to make a call, we have to go to the river banks to use services from Delta State.

“That is why we are here to discuss the way forward. Their ships have eroded the soil near the riverbank, and within 24 hours of shutting down their rigs, they are losing millions.

“No member of this community or Anambra State is employed. Let them prove me wrong. We don’t even know what is being metered. The state government is also losing revenue,” he lamented.

Hon. Onyema, however, disclosed that the deplorable road network will soon be fixed, as Governor Soludo has assured to repair it from Uga Street Junction in Onitsha down to Ossamala and Ogwu-Ikpelle, connecting Anambra to Rivers State.

Regarding the health facility in the area, Hon. Onyema mentioned that plans are underway to build a hospital, as the existing primary healthcare center is insufficient for the community’s needs.

He commended the state government for erecting public pipe-borne water facilities a few months ago, although he noted that it is not yet adequate for the community.

He expressed hope that better living conditions will soon be experienced in Ogwu-Ikpelle.

Earlier in his remarks, the President-General of the community, Mr. Esumai Patrick Chukwudi, stated that the purpose of the gathering and protest was to mark 10 years of rejection, humiliation, and insult from SPEECO exploration company, which has been mining oil for the past decade with no visible benefits for the community.

According to him, “There is no employment, no roads, no water, no hospital, nothing from them, and we have been pleading with them since they started operations.

The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is insignificant. There is no accurate metering to determine the quantity of oil being transferred, which impacts the PIA.

The Anambra State government cannot determine the amount of oil leaving the community because they have pipes beneath the River Niger through which they move these oils to Delta State.

We have gas and crude oil, but the Anambra State government cannot account for it because they do not know the quantity and cannot demand that the amount received from the federal government is commensurate with the oil extracted.”

“The company has refused to implement its CSR, and the gas flare has negatively affected our agricultural produce, especially palm trees.

“There is pollution that prevents us from even fishing in this community, and the oil spillage has been impacting farm produce for the past 10 years. These are the issues that prompted the blockade. We want the world to hear us and come to our aid,” he noted.

“Not a single person from Anambra is employed. We have a consensus 60/40 agreement for the employment of our youths, and there is still nothing to show. We implore the state government to intervene so that the people can breathe fresh air.

“Yesterday, we shut down all the oil wells: we have about 12 in Umuokike, seven in Umuayas, seven in Umungbeleke, and twelve wells in Umuogbulishi and Umuogbu.

“We even shut down the pipelines they laid across Delta State, which is why they came here today for us to dialogue, and we have presented our grievances.”

“They said they would schedule another meeting. That’s what they’ve been telling us for the past 10 years. All the jobs here are given to people outside Anambra State.

“Our community is virtually empty, and they are drilling oil day after day. They are also involved in bunkering. Oil flows underground through the sea and along specific pathways; let them explain what these pathways are.

“We have photographic and video evidence of these pathways while oil is being moved to other states. They want to lay another pipeline, called the Kwale pipeline, which will cross from Akwa Ibom to Anambra. They came, and we saw them.”

He maintained that the Anambra State government is aware of the suffering, and Governor Soludo has promised to rehabilitate the road from Uga to Ogwu Ikpelle to Ndoni in Rivers State.

“Since oil is flowing from Ogwu-Ikpelle, they will fix it, and we believe he will deliver, including other social responsibilities.”

The Youth President of Ogwu-Ikpelle, His Youthfulness Aghauli Chimuanya Peter, noted that SPEECO’s presence in the community over the years has yielded no visible benefits due to the absence of basic amenities.

“We demand that the company build roads for us, provide pipe-borne water, electricity, and solar-powered lights, and create employment opportunities. As the youth leader, I do not even have access to go inside the facility, let alone work there.”

Another community leader and teacher, Mr. Aghauli Dominic Chukwudi, while acknowledging that the government had neglected them for years, urged Governor Soludo to intervene so that before SPEECO leaves Ogwu-Ikpelle, significant developments, particularly good roads, a market, a hospital, and other social amenities, are put in place.

In her contribution, the Woman President General, Mrs. Onwuaghamadu Victoria, stated that this year marks 10 years since SPEECO entered the community, yet they lack good water, electricity, proper roads, a hospital, and other essential facilities.

“I would say their stay has been useless to us because we have gained nothing. Our children are not employed, let alone the women. All we ask is for our lives to be made liveable with these basic amenities in place. Our pregnant women have to travel to town to give birth; nothing is moving forward, and we are not happy about that.”

Another speaker, Dominic Anumale from Umungashi Ogwu-Ikpelle, stated that SPEEC has been using deceptive tactics in the community. “We have been suffering, and commodities that are cheap elsewhere have become expensive here due to the lack of good roads to transport them.

“The cost of living is high, yet we have oil flowing in our land. Therefore, today we have decided to say no to them until the right thing is done.”

Efforts to contact any representative of the oil company proved abortive, as they declined to comment on the issue pending an address from the company’s Public Relations Officer to the media.