There was panic on Saturday as youths of Mgbala Agwa in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State and soldiers clashed.
Our correspondent leant that the youth held hostage an operational vehicle of an oil company, Sterling, operating in the community.
The youth had alleged that the oil company had not respected the agreements it reached with the community.
They claimed that the oil firm had destroyed the roads in the community with its operations without repairing them.
An indigene of the community, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said, “The youth blocked the operational vehicle belonging to the company, insisting that they won’t free it until the firm repaired the roads.
“The oil company called soldiers, who came to the scene and scared everybody with gunshots.”
A journalist, Don Uba, who was in the community when the soldiers were shooting, said most of the villagers ran into the bush.
He told our correspondent that he was speaking from a nearby bush that he ran into.
When contacted, the police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, told our correspondent that the disagreement had been settled.
Ikeokwu said the youth and the oil firm had agreed to meet in the office of the police area commander on a yet-to-be-fixed date to settle their differences.
He said that there was no casualty during the clash.
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