Akwa Ibom Boils Over Fate of 300 School Kids

Akwa Ibom Boils Over Fate of 300 School Kids

EXCEPT there is a last minute intervention, the fate of around 300 school children in the oil-bearing axis of Akwa Ibom State, is currently uncertain. There are deepening fears in the area that the children will drop out of school when schools finally resume.

Their school fees-paying fathers have been thrown out of their juicy oil jobs. Already, this is a major source of worry to restive community youths in Eket, Esit-Eket, Ibeno, and Onna Local Government Areas of the state.

Disturbed officials of ExxonMobil, an American oil major, told AkanimoReports at Eket, that the oil company has no hand in the gathering storm in the area.

ExxonMobil workers are equally jittery that the company might be a victim of renewed militants' attack if the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) makes good their threat to commence fresh hostilities. The Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), another insurgent network similarly threatened last week to resume their ''Oil War''

At the centre of the current palaver in Akwa Ibom, is an oil servicing company, Sirpi-Alusteel Construction Ltd, working for ExxonMobil. The contracting oil firm is engaged in offshore construction and installation projects.

Trouble allegedly started last December when the oil servicing company laid-off over 100 of its local workers without compensation.

Spokesmen for the laid-off oil workers----- Victor Akpaneyem, Sam Joe, Peter Etuk, Nso Bassey, and Nsien Nsien---- claimed in an interview with a correspondent of AkanimoReports that were laid-off in a ''contemptible manner'' without alleged consideration to relevant labour laws. They said they are supposed to be paid ''end of project compensation or terminal take-home''.

''We are very worried for our children because except miracle happens, the possibility of their going back to school is remote. At the moment, feeding is a big problem in our families'', the laid-off oil workers said, and according accused the American oil giant of being responsible for their plight.

But the Public and Government Affairs Department of ExxonMobil, in a swift reaction, advised the sacked oil, servicing company workers to look elsewhere for the cause of their problems, claiming that ExxonMobil does not involve itself in the internal affairs of its contracting firms. Meanwhile, the laid-off workers are appealing to stakeholders in Akwa Ibom to intervene in a bid to save the problem from boiling over.

A community leader in Eket, Maurice Edoho-Eket, when contacted said some public-spirited individuals are already wading into the matter. ''We are hopeful that the parties involved will see reasons, and give peace a chance in this election year'', he said.

ENDS

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