‘No Light, No Water’: Rivers Women Take to the Streets After Two Years of Darkness in Oil-Rich Kula Community

Women from Kula, a coastal community in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, have staged a peaceful protest over the prolonged absence of electricity and clean water, a crisis they say has persisted for more than two years.

Carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs, the protesters marched to the community’s jetty and security checkpoints to demand urgent intervention from government authorities and oil companies operating in the area.

The women said the lack of electricity has directly worsened water scarcity, leaving residents with no choice but to depend on unsafe sources for daily use. According to them, the situation has deepened hardship in the oil-producing community, despite hosting critical national assets and major oil firms.

They lamented that the prolonged blackout has taken a heavy toll on public health, livelihoods and the local economy, particularly small-scale businesses that depend on electricity to survive.

Residents also warned that the cost of living in the riverine community has risen sharply, as families are forced to purchase water or fetch from reptile-infested wells, exposing them to serious health risks.

One of the protesters, Ibitonye, said the women were driven to the streets by frustration and neglect.

“We are protesting because there is no light and no water. The women of Kula are suffering and we are angry. We are begging the Federal Government to intervene,” she said.

She described the condition of the wells used by residents as heartbreaking, adding that the community is surrounded by oil wells yet lacks the most basic amenities.

“If you see the wells we drink from, you will cry for us. This is injustice. We live among oil wells, yet malaria and cholera are killing us because of the water we drink and the environment we live in,” she added.

The protesters sent a save-our-soul message to Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, the Akuku-Toru Local Government Council, the Federal Government, and oil companies operating in the area, including Renaissance and Bella Oil, urging them to restore electricity to the island.

They insisted that restoring power supply would immediately ease water scarcity and improve living conditions in the community.