Clara Nwachukwu
Chevron Nigeria Limited, the local unit of U.S. oil major, Chevron Corporation, has agreed to meet with aggrieved communities at a Stakeholders Forum, within two weeks in Warri, Delta State, the regional headquarters of its Western Operations.

The stakeholders’ forum following a protest by community representatives from Ilaje, Ondo, at Chevron’s Lekki office in Lagos, during which the protesters, made up of mainly women barricaded the oil company’s gates to display their grievances, with a view to attracting management’s attention.The protesters laid siege at the Chevron gates from Tuesday till about 1.00 pm on Wednesday.

A top official of the company told Vanguard in confidence that “issues were amicably resolved through engagements of relevant stakeholders, including the Ondo State Government, with no settlement or payment by the company,” in denial to earlier reports that the protesters might have been paid before they were dispersed.

The women, according to Chevron, complained of marginalisation in the award of contracts relative to their male counterparts, to which it defended that the Ilaje women, through their various cooperative societies have been benefitting from its business activities in the Niger Delta.

Chevron officials further said that “community contractors who do not have required special skills to successfully execute key contracts still benefit from other opportunities its operations avail,” adding that it has a strong spirit of diversity and as such does not discriminate against anyone based on  gender or religion and will continue to encourage men and women to work amicably in its areas of operations.