The street protest by youths of Aleto in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State has been suspended following an intervention by the Paramount ruler of the community, HRM Philip Obele.
The youths have withdrawn from the Old Port Harcourt road and dismantled the road blocks. Businesses around the area have also opened to the public.
The youths had begun the street protest on Wednesday to press home their demands for the payment of their dividends from Indorama shares, which were suspended because of a dispute over the leadership of community trust committee that oversees the dividends.
After not getting attention from the community leadership, the youths marched to the palace of the Paramount ruler of Aleto where they laid their demands.
King Obele, after listening to their demands, urged the youths to call off the protest, as he assured them that he would intervene and resolve the dispute.
The traditional ruler asked the youths to nominate three representatives to engage in further dialogue with him, the Aleto Council of Chiefs, and other stakeholders.
They then nominated Amejima Brain Oluka, Obele Joseph Jr., and John Oluji in the presence of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Eleme and other security operatives.
Their withdrawal from the streets signals a hopeful new chapter for Aleto as community leaders and stakeholders now move into the next phase of dialogue and reconciliation.
