Protesters leave ChevronTexaco facility

US oil giant ChevronTexaco said on Friday a group
of women protesters who had besieged one of its oil production facilities in southwestern Nigerian had voluntarily ended their nine-day occupation.

A spokesman said the company had neither negotiated nor reached any agreement with the 100 women from the Ilaje community, who occupied the offshore Ewan oil platform on 14 August.

"We did a routine check at the Ewan facility and found that the protesters had left on their own," a company official told IRIN.

The protesters had accused ChevronTexaco of damaging their environment, farms and fishing areas through oil pollution. They had demanded an agreement that would oblige the company to clean up the environment as well as provide amenities and jobs for the inhabitants of the area. But the company refused to enter negotiations with the protesters.

The incident was the latest of several such protests. Early in August women protesters picketed the offices of ChevronTexaco and Royal/Dutch Shell in the oil town of Warri.

In July groups of women protesters took over ChevronTexaco's Escravos oil export terminal and several other facilities over similar demands. The company later signed agreements with the Ugborodo and Gbaramatu communities, where the protestors were from, promising amenities, such as electricity and
potable water and micro-credit facilities.

Disruption of oil operations are common in Nigeria's southern oil region, where poverty-stricken communities accuse the government and oil companies of degrading their environment and depriving them of the oil wealth produced on their land.