A group of Niger Delta youth leaders on Wednesday staged a protest at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Towers in Abuja, demanding the immediate removal of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Engineer Bayo Ojulari, over allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
The protesting youths also insisted that an indigene of the Niger Delta should be appointed as the next head of the national oil company, stressing that the region deserves fair representation in the management of Nigeria’s petroleum resources.
Eyewitnesses told the Nigerian Tribune that the youths arrived at the NNPC headquarters in the Central Business District of Abuja early in the morning. Armed with banners bearing different inscriptions, they sang solidarity songs while disrupting vehicular movement around the busy area.
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Security operatives, including personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, were quickly deployed to the scene to maintain order. The officers were seen persuading the aggrieved youths to remain peaceful while redirecting traffic along Herbert Macaulay Way to ease the heavy gridlock caused by the demonstration.
Many NNPC workers were forced to park their vehicles away from the company’s gates, as the protesters blocked access to the premises during the demonstration.
Later, a representative of the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, addressed the youths, appealing to them to vacate the road in order to restore the free flow of traffic. Following the intervention, the protesters eventually dispersed, and normalcy returned to the area.
