Ogwu Ikpele, a riverine community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, is presently reeling in pain and agony over ten years of oil exploration by an oil company known as Sterling Petroleum Energy Exploration Company (SEEPCO), which, instead of being a blessing, has remained a curse.
For two consecutive days, the Traditional Prime Minister of Ogwu-Ikpele Kingdom, Chief Akaka Damian Anigboso, Odua of Ogwu-Ikpele, led residents of the community—youths, women, and the elderly—in a protest from Friday, January 16, to Saturday, January 17, 2026, against the deplorable and pitiable condition of their community, despite SEEPCO’s ten years of oil exploration in the area.
During the protests, the people erected barricades in some locations, while drilling activities and electricity were shut down, resulting in huge losses for the company.
The protest, which coincided with SEEPCO’s celebration of ten years of oil exploration in the community, centred on the lack of visible social amenities such as tarred roads, hospitals or health centres, electricity, pipe-borne water, and schools.
The people said the only two boreholes in the vast community were recently provided by the state government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the council area during campaigns for support ahead of the November 8 governorship polls in the state.
“It has been ten years of agony, denial, rejection, and degradation,” the Traditional Prime Minister of Ogwu Ikpele Kingdom, Chief Akaka Damian Anigboso, lamented bitterly. He said the community had suffered immensely at the hands of SEEPCO since oil exploration began ten years ago.
“The sufferings of our people are too numerous to mention. Where do I begin? Is it the lack of basic amenities like potable water, health centres, good drinking water, and accessible motorable roads? Yet, this community is blessed with oil in abundance, drilled for ten years with nothing to show for it. SEEPCO only came here to exploit and enslave us.
“Our oil is being explored and transferred to the Niger Delta. These are ten good years SEEPCO has been operating in our land, and all the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) we signed with them have remained unimplemented. They take our people for a ride, and that is wrong,” he said.
The Odua of Ogwu-Ikpele further explained that despite four fully loaded tanker ships of oil being transferred daily to neighbouring states, their children remain uneducated, unempowered, and unemployed.
“They promised scholarships from elementary to secondary school, university, and up to Master’s degree level. There is no hospital, no pipe-borne water, no electricity. We have made frantic efforts to both the Enugu and Anambra State governments, but we have been neglected.
“We are regarded as an oil-producing community with natural wealth but without basic amenities. Our women are neglected, there is no town hall, and the ships used for oil exploration have caused severe erosion along the riverbanks, submerging and washing away no fewer than thirty houses into the River Niger.
“We have instructed our youths to block them from further mining until they begin to do what is right, or they should kill us all before continuing to mine our oil,” he fumed.
Also speaking, a former member of the House of Representatives for Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Hon. Chuchu Onyema, said SEEPCO has been operating in Ogwu Ikpele for over ten years.
“What the people are doing today is celebrating regret, degradation, and all forms of ill-treatment coming from the company. We have tried to negotiate with them, but for reasons best known to them, they keep avoiding us.
“This blockade today (Friday) was meant to stop their operations and force a round-table discussion for the final time. We believe in conflict resolution, not violence. There is such a thing as corporate social responsibility.
“We are supposed to receive three per cent of what is metered, but there is nothing to show for it. The only streetlight you see in Ogwu Ikpele is the one I attracted while I was in the House of Representatives. Other development projects are from the state government, even though there is an oil company here. We are not begging; we are only demanding what is rightfully due to us,” he said.
Hon. Onyema further stated that the company flares gas that could be converted to electricity, while telecommunications masts and 24-hour electricity supply serve only the company.
“If we want to make calls, we go to the riverbanks to access networks from Delta State. That is why we are here—to discuss the way forward. Their ships erode the riverbanks, and for twenty-four hours now, we have shut down their rigs. They are losing millions.
“No indigene of this community or Anambra State is employed. Let them prove me wrong. We do not even know what is being metered, and the state government is losing revenue,” he added bitterly.
However, Hon. Onyema disclosed that the deplorable road in the area would soon be fixed, as Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo has assured that the road from Uga Junction through Ossamala to Ogwu Ikpele, en route to Rivers State, would be tarred.
He also said plans were underway to build a hospital in the community, as the existing primary health care centre is inadequate. He commended the state government for providing public pipe-borne water a few months ago, though he noted it was insufficient for the population.
“We hope that better living conditions will soon be experienced in Ogwu Ikpele,” he said.
Earlier, the President-General of Ogwu Ikpele Community, Mr. Esumai Patrick Chukwudi, said the protest was to mark ten years of rejection, humiliation, and neglect by SEEPCO, which has been mining oil in the community for the same period with nothing to show for it.
“No employment, no roads, no water, no hospital—nothing from them, despite our repeated appeals since they began operations. The PIA is nothing to write home about. There is no proper metering to determine the quantity of oil being transferred, which affects the PIA.
“The Anambra State Government cannot determine the amount of oil leaving the community because pipelines were laid beneath the River Niger to transport oil to Delta State,” he said.
He added that gas flaring has destroyed economic trees, especially palm trees, while pollution and oil spillage have made fishing and farming impossible for the past ten years.
“We want the world to hear us and come to our aid,” he said.
Mr. Chukwudi further revealed that despite a 60/40 employment agreement for youths, nothing has been implemented.
“We shut down all the wells yesterday. We have about twelve wells in Umuokike, seven in Umuayas, seven in Umungbeleke, Umuogbulishi, and Umuogbu. Even the pipelines laid to Delta State were shut down, which forced them to come for dialogue today. They promised another meeting—that is what they have been saying for ten years.
“All the jobs are given to people outside Anambra State. We have evidence, including pictures and videos, of illegal oil movements and patches. They are also planning to lay another pipeline, called the Kwale Pipeline, from Akwa Ibom to Anambra,” he said.
The President-General said the Anambra State Government was aware of their plight and that Governor Soludo had promised to rehabilitate the road from Uga Junction to Ogwu Ikpele and Ndoni in Rivers State.
Youth President of Ogwu Ikpele, Aghauli Chimuanya Peter, said SEEPCO’s presence in the community had brought pollution and devastation rather than development.
“We demand roads, pipe-borne water, electricity, solar streetlights, and employment. As the youth leader, I cannot even access their facility, not to talk of working there,” he said.
Another community leader and teacher, Mr. Aghauli Dominic Chukwudi, urged Governor Soludo to intervene so that something meaningful would be left behind before SEEPCO exits the community.
The Woman President-General, Mrs. Onwuaghamadu Victoria, said SEEPCO’s ten-year presence had been useless and would no longer be tolerated.
“There is nothing to gain. Our children and women are not employed. All we ask is for basic amenities to make life livable. Our pregnant women travel to Onitsha to give birth. Nothing is working, and we are not happy,” she said.
Another speaker, Dominic Anumale from Umungashi, Ogwu Ikpele, said SEEPCO had used deceptive tactics in the community, noting that the high cost of living was worsened by bad roads.
“Items that are cheap in other communities are expensive here. We have oil, yet life is hard. That is why we said no today until the right thing is done,” he said.
SEEPCO officials declined to comment on the matter, stating that their Public Affairs Department would issue a response in due course.Ogwu Ikpele Community In Anambra Protests Ten Years Of SEEPCOOgwu Ikpele Community In Anambra Protests Ten Years Of SEEPCO
