A coalition of Itsekiri, Ijaw and Ilaje graduates under the aegis of 3is’ Coalition has faulted the recruitment process of Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL.

The group said the company’s procedures for allocating jobs to graduates from these ethnic groups were detrimental to their chances of being considered.

They spoke after staging a walkout from a meeting with Chevron’s management.

The graduates also vowed to shut down CNL operations in their territories if the appropriate things were not done.

In a recent petition to President Bola Tinubu, Chevron and other stakeholders in the country, the graduates complained about CNL’s policy of neglecting qualified graduates from their host communities when it came to the employment of their workforce.

A statement signed by President of Egbema-Gbaramatu, Ogulagha Graduates Employment Front, KOMBOT, Tare Olaye; President of National Association of Itsekiri Graduates, NAIG, Esiategiwa Mino; and President of National Association of Ilaje Graduates, NAIG, Ikuesan Kelly, demanded that CNL put a stop to its ongoing aptitude test until their host communities were certain of an agreed position.

The group, in its demand, stated: “Chevron management should immediately reschedule a meeting before Nov 8, 2024; the Chevron team should be led by a minimum of a general manager; President of the  federal Republic of Nigeria should call Chevron management to order and do the  needful immediately; the NUPRC and NCDMB management should call Chevron management to order and request them to do the needful. These consequences are if Chevron fails to call for a meeting after Nov 8, 2024, we shall carry out simultaneous protests  in the Escravos tank farm, Warri Area office, and  all field locations in Delta and Ondo states  and shut down Chevron operations nationwide.”