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Moms demand talks with oil giant
11/07/2002 13:39 - (SA)
Lagos - Mothers who have barricaded workers inside one of Nigeria's largest oil terminals to demand jobs for their sons entered the fourth day of their protest on Thursday, demanding talks with Chevron Nigeria's managing director.
"The talks are still continuing, the situation is the same as it
was yesterday," said Wole Agunbiade, spokesperson for the firm, a
subsidiary of US oil giant ChevronTexaco.
Managing director Jay Pryor was not in Nigeria, he said, but
other officials were in talks with leaders of the 150-strong group which has blockaded the terminal.
No aircraft or boats have been able to leave or arrive at the
Escravos terminal since Monday, apart from those bringing
negotiators to the site 300km east of Lagos.
More than 700 workers have been trapped in the terminal, which
is on an island in a coastal swamp, and operations at the site are severely disrupted.
Chevron Nigeria is the third-largest oil producer in the
country. It runs Escravos jointly with the state-owned Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation.
The firm's production is estimated to be about 500 000 barrels a day, with 450 000 normally passing through the besieged terminal, but officials would not confirm this.
The women stormed the export terminal on Monday after seizing a boat bringing casual workers from the local Ugoborodu community, which has long claimed Chevron does not do enough for them.
They are unarmed and non-violent, but have blockaded
administrative facilities at the Escravos tank farm, a dock, landing strip and the site's main gate.
Agunbiade said that if any tanker arrived to load oil stored at the terminal for export the firm was confident it could be
accommodated. - Sapa-AFP
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