They also demanded that they should be awarded oil blocks as a way of ending youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region.
The rally, which commenced early in the morning ended at the Youth Centre, opposite the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Peace Corp and the Red Cross accompanied the protesters with a view to maintaining peace and order.
The Chairman, Rivers State chapter of the group, Ambassador Sukubo Sara-Igbo, urged the Federal Government to grant more oil wells to indigenes of Southsouth in order to end the spate of agitations in the oil producing region.
He said the OML 55 that Chevron divested to Belemaoil Producing Limited recently employed 520 youths from the communities.
He praised the company for its intervention in corporate social responsibility and youth development.
He said: “ Today, we were up to 3,000 youths in the streets of Port Harcourt celebrating this young investor.
‘’Our main slogan is you build the youth, you build the nation. And when you build the nation, you maintain the elders. And we say no to pipelines vandalism, kidnapping, armed robbery and killings and other social vices because they are evil.
“Today, the youths of Rivers State are happy and we are celebrating Belemaoil. We are celebrating him because he is a youth and secondly, he is an indigenous contractor.
“ He has made great impact within one month of operation in the host community; he has given them 520 employment opportunities; and as I speak that particular region is cool and calm.”
Assuring investors of a peaceful business environment, he called on business men to come and invest in the state.
He said: “We thank the Federal Government for deeming it necessary to divest the asset to an indigenous son from the Southsouth.
“We also thank Rivers State government for providing good enabling environment for the investors to operate; we the youth of Rivers State have collaborated with him and we are urging other investors to come and operate in Rivers State.”
END
It’s doable, to engender peace and tranquility in the region and in Nigeria as whole.