On September 3, 2024, We the People held a townhall meeting in Ikarama community, Bayelsa State, following the release of the second episode of its podcast documenting the devastating impact of oil extraction in the community and the culpability of Shell and Agip-Eni, the operating oil companies. The gathering included community chiefs and a wide cross-section of indigenous people, including youths, men, and women, and served as a critical platform for the community to voice their grievances and strategize for demanding accountability and environmental restoration

The focal point of the discussions was the podcast which detailed Shell’s and other oil companies’ roles in environmental and social neglect. Producer of the podcast and 2024 Bertha Challenge Fellow, Ken Henshaw, amplified the issues the podcast raised, emphasizing the need to hold International Oil Companies (IOCs) accountable during their divestment phase. He argued that waiting until the divestment process concludes would leave the community with little leverage over newcomers who inherit the operations.

Community members expressed profound distress and concern over the oil spills that had been left unattended, with the most recent being abandoned over a year, the neglect of corporate social responsibility commitments, and the opaque processes surrounding oil companies’ divestment plans. A shared concern by the community was the manipulation of spill investigations by NODSRA (National Oil Detection and Response Agency), where an incident clearly caused by operational fault was misreported, falsely implicating the community.

The meeting concluded with a unified demand from the Ikarama community insisting that Shell, Agip, and any other departing IOCs must not only cease divestment move but also rehabilitate the ecosystems to their pre-extraction conditions. The community also called for genuine and transparent engagement from both the divesting and incoming oil companies, emphasizing that they be treated with the respect and seriousness as host communities. These demands are set against a backdrop of a long history of exploitation and a fierce determination to ensure future interactions are rooted in justice and ecological responsibility.

The Town Hall Meeting was supported by the Bertha Foundation through the Bertha Challenge Fellowship currently being held by Ken Henshaw.