Policy Alert, Women in Esit Eket/Ibeno Communities Partner to Resist Gas Flaring
By Ekemini Simon
Women in Edo community in Esit Eket local government area and Iwuoachang community in Ibeno local government area have agreed to work with Policy Alert, a Civil Society Organization working on economic and ecological justice in the Niger Delta for resistance to gas flaring going on in their communities.
Esit Eket and Ibeno are oil and gas producing communities that have endured terrible effects of gas flaring since Frontier Oil and ExxonMobil commenced operations in 2003 and 1974 respectively.
The partnership deal to resist gas flaring in these communities was struck on Wednesday, July 6, 2022 when Policy Alert team with support from Global Greengrants Fund paid a visit to community leaders in Edo and Iwuoachang to offer insight into the project.
The Project Lead, Dinah David said the project which is tagged “Empowering Niger Delta communities with data as a tool for resisting gas flaring” will facilitate community-led action that links available but poorly utilized data to policy and legal reforms that seek to address gas flaring and climate change.
She noted that the project although will include all gender gives preference to women especially as those mostly affected by gas flaring.
David offered insight to the fact that in achieving the goal of the project, Policy Alert will conduct action research on impacts of gas flaring in the two communities, build a corps of at least 50 community infomediaries who can utilize extractive data to hold government, companies and politicians accountable for gas flaring.
The project lead said the organization will further simplify and amplify community-specific data on gas flaring, penalties, and impacts, while campaigning for an immediate end to gas flaring.
In response, a woman Leader in the Edo community, Cecilia Ikot noted that the community’s livelihood, health and infrastructures have been destroyed owing to the negative effect of the flare by the gas company operating in their domain.
She said “Our plants are stunned because of the gas flaring. Fishes in our waters are now scarce because the gas flare has affected their breeding. Our streams have dried up. Many strange illnesses are coming. Our men no longer last long during sex because of the heat from gas flaring which affects their reproductive organs.
“Our women now suffer during child birth. Some even find it difficult to conceive because of the heat from the gas flare. If you put your finger in your nose, you see charcoal. We need urgent help”.
In their respective remarks, the Village Head of Akpan Idungafia in Edo community, Chief Akpan Etukudo and the Village Head of Edo Atai in Edo Community, Chief S.J Unyongmkpo thanked Policy Alert for the interest shown in the community. They expressed readiness to work with Policy Alert so as to resist gas flaring in their community.
In Iwuoachang Community, Ibeno local government area, Woman Leader of the Community, Obonganwan Eta Ibok said the community has suffered due to years of gas flaring.
While expressing the community’s readiness to support the project, she said with the data that would be afforded them coupled with other training by Policy Alert they will be rightly disposed to hold government officials and multinational companies accountable with the aim to end gas flaring.
