Fresh Protests Trail Seplat Operations as Abigborodo Community Demands Host Status, Threatens Shutdown

Tension heightened on Monday, 15th December 2025, as youths, women and elders of Abigborodo community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State staged a fresh protest against Seplat Energy over what they described as years of exclusion from benefits, employment and recognition as a host community.

The protesters warned that they would shut down Seplat’s operations in the area if their demands were not urgently addressed.

The aggrieved residents, who gathered near Seplat’s operational corridor, accused the oil and gas company of operating on Abigborodo land without engaging members of the community in jobs, contracts or development programmes. They said several petitions and appeals to the company and relevant authorities had yielded no positive outcome.

Speaking to newsmen during the protest, the women leader of Abigborodo community, Mrs Patience Ologho, said the action was part of a sustained struggle for recognition and justice.

According to her, Seplat Energy had continued to benefit from land belonging to Abigborodo while completely sidelining the community in its operations.

“For over five years, Seplat has been working on our land and nobody from Abigborodo has been employed or benefited in any way,” Ologho said. “We have written letters and appealed severally, but nothing has changed.

We want peace, but we also want fairness. A land in dispute cannot be enjoyed by only one side. If nothing is done, we will stop Seplat from operating on our land.”

Also speaking, the Abigborodo women wing secretary, Mrs Felicia Koma, insisted that the land hosting Seplat’s facilities belongs to Abigborodo community. She recalled that women from the community had earlier protested along the river, where Seplat officials allegedly promised to return with solutions.

“They made promises, but they never came back to us,” she said. “That is why we are protesting again. We are peace loving people, but we are determined to shut down their operations until they recognise Abigborodo and listen to us.”

Another indigene, Miss Oyibodudun Ajemijereoma Gladys, said the protest was triggered by Seplat’s continued refusal to recognise Abigborodo as a host community.

“Our demands are simple,” she said. “Seplat should recognise Abigborodo as a host community and employ our youths. If they keep ignoring us, we will not allow them to operate freely on our land.”

The protesters maintained that Abigborodo, a predominantly Itsekiri speaking riverine community in Warri North LGA, has ancestral ownership of the land where Seplat is carrying out its operations.

They lamented that despite bearing the environmental and social impact of oil and gas activities, the community has been excluded from opportunities usually extended to host communities.

Abigborodo residents rely mainly on fishing, farming and small scale trading for survival and say the absence of benefits from oil operations has worsened hardship in the community.

They called on the Delta State Government, regulatory agencies and Seplat Energy to urgently intervene, recognise Abigborodo as a host community and initiate dialogue to prevent a shutdown of operations and possible breakdown of peace.

As of the time of filing this report, Seplat Energy had not issued any official response to the claims by Abigborodo community.