Armed men suspected to be militants, have attacked a new Norfin Offshore Shipyard located in Ikot Ukpong, Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
It was gathered that the armed men arrived on Monday and shot indiscriminately to scare away security workers around the site before throwing explosives into the multi-million naira facility of the company.
Following the attack, the inauguration of the shipyard, which is supposed to hold on Saturday, January 23, 2021, has been postponed to January 30 by the state Governor, Udom Emmanuel.
The Chairman of the facility, Iniekong Udonwa, narrated that the militants said no business can run in Akwa Ibom “without first settling them.” They are demanding N20 million from the state.
He also lamented the damage done to facilities at the shipyard by the suspected militant group from Ogoni part of Rivers State, saying, “They said we cannot start any business in Akwa Ibom State without first settling them.
“They keep telling our staff to tell the Government of Akwa Ibom to reach out to them since they are in charge of both Rivers and Akwa Ibom states. Where do they expect me to get N20m for them after destroying our machine worth N60m”.
Udonwa pointed out that the incident had discouraged him greatly as it had affected expansion activities. He said he is strongly considering taking the investment elsewhere.
