The people of the Ogba, Egbema and Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, whose communities had been submerged by flood, on Thursday, protested against alleged government neglect.

This was as flood also sacked residents of Ahoada West, Ahoada East, Abua/Odual and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas of the state.

The protesters, who converged on the Ebocha Link Bridge in Egbema, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA, called on the government to come to their aid even as they demanded an end to police brutality.

Speaking on behalf of the people, one Nnamdi Ijeoma, noted that they had suffered lots of neglect despite their contributions to the economic development of the nation.

“Today, we are protesting so that the government will give Egbema attention; we have bled for decades and we have sacrificed so much that it is hard to talk about Nigeria without talking about Egbema.

“We are saying this because we know the level of contribution we have made to Nigeria since oil was found in 1961; but since then till now, our people have not seen the relief of a good life.

“We have seen communities around the world that have what we have and they are being developed, yet Egbema is seen in the reverse. So, we are saying that Egbema should be given attention; we are calling on the United Nations to beam its cameras on us,” he said.

Another protester, Helen Emeka, called on the international oil companies operating in the area to quickly intervene to address the plight of the people.

 She said, “We have oil companies and every year we have been experiencing flooding consecutively. We need help; we want the international community to hear our cry.”