Warri — The spate of communal protests directed against Chevron Nigeria Limited shifted yesterday to Ekpan, near Warri in Delta State, as a multitude of women sealed up the operational base of the oil conglomerate demanding for jobs for the people of the community.

Over a thousand women defied the early morning heavy downpour to take part in the protest that saw them barricading the gates of the company.

The Ekpan women had actually issued an ultimatum to Chevron last week, threatening to storm the company's base located along the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Expressway, Warri, if it failed to meet a set of demands. The ultimatum expired on Monday.

The community had claimed that the oil company had operated its area in the past 19 years "without any form of assistance to the host community."

Madam Constance Uwahomo who spoke to newsmen on behalf of the women alleged that Chevron had over the years marginalised Ekpan community where their corporate base is situated, adding that while job vacancies were reserved for people from other parts of the country, the Ekpan people were left jobless.

Uwahomo also stated that the community was aware of the government's directive that oil companies should source 60 per cent of their labour from the host communities, but lamented that Chevron had had no place for the teeming population of the unemployed in Ekpan.

"If you go inside Chevron now, none of our boys dey dia. Our girls wey go school, none of them dey dia. Our women dem wey sabi cook wey go catering school none of them dey dia and even our husbands wey learn welding and fitter work, Chevron no still employ dem," Uwahomo explained in pidgin English.

The protest was largely peaceful, but THISDAY learnt that while the women were drawing public attention at the gates, a group of community leaders were at a meeting with some members of Chevron's management team inside the base.

Contacted, a Chevron spokesman, Mr Wole Agunbiade confirmed that the company had had a successful negotiation with the Ekpan community who had agreed to vacate the office.

"We had a successful negotiation with the community and the women had agreed to leave," said Agunbiade.

It was the latest in the series of community disturbances that had plagued Chevron in the past four weeks. The crisis first began with the invasion of the Escravos Tanks Farm by more than 200 Itsekiri women from Ugborodo communities that lasted for 10 days.

Just as the Itsekiri women ended their invasion of the tank farm after extracting some promises from Chevron to embark on development projects, Ijaw women numbering more than 1,000 invaded four of Chevron's oil flowstations.

Chevron suffered substantial losses in crude oil production from the seizure of the flowstations for close to 11 days, which officials put at three million barrels.