Representatives of the Itsekiri - one of the ethnic groups in southern Nigeria, have threatened to boycott and paralyze the work of the American company Chevron in the country. As reported by the Nigerian Tribune, the Itsekiri are outraged that the company carried out additional recruitment in violation of the law and did not employ local specialists.
The Itsekiri, an ethnic group of the Yoruba people, live in the region where the main oil fields and the country's two main oil terminals are concentrated – Wary and Forcados.
„We have observed that Chevron Nigeria Limited, a joint venture operator with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has hired 300 employees,” itsekiri officials quoted the paper as saying. They consider this behavior by the company to be provocative, subversive of the Itsekiri nation and a flagrant violation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Development Act 2010. The recruitment was done in secret and deserving Itsekiri candidates were not given the opportunity to apply to fill the vacancies . "This means that Chevron has declared war on our people and therefore we will no longer guarantee them safe work on our land until all illegal workers are fired and the Itsekiri, Ijaw and Ilaje natives are given a quota of at least 60% ", are categorically from the ethnic group.
According to the authors of the statement, Chevron has followed this policy for over 30 years. Local residents are not hired, the company does not fulfill its social responsibility obligations - providing the local population with drinking water, electricity, medical care.
The Itsekiri representatives said that if their demands are not met, they are ready for any action, even if it affects the level of oil production in Nigeria.
Oil production in Nigeria is mostly carried out by American companies that ignore the interests of the local population, which often only leads to environmental pollution. This often leads to conflicts and acts of sabotage at oil production and transportation facilities.