Niger Delta: Tension as over 100 oil producing communities protest non-payment of entitlements

There was heavy protest in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Thursday as more than 100 oil-producing communities and families staged protest over the non payment of their entitlements.

Our correspondent, who monitored the development, reports that the protesting communities from six states in the Niger Delta stormed  the Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited gate in Port Harcourt, demanding payment of about 87 billion naira in alleged outstanding ground rent.

The protesters, who gathered on Thursday, said the money covers ground rent allegedly owed by the former Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, SPDC, now Renaissance Africa Energy, for the period between 2014 and 2023.

The affected states are Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Imo, Akwa Ibom and Abia.

The communities are also demanding harmonisation of the payments and uniform rates of 600,000 naira per hectare, arguing that different rates paid to some oil-bearing communities amount to unfair treatment.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions including, “Shell/Renaissance must obey the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources”, “Shell/Renaissance should comply with the Senate resolutions of 24th Jan, 2019 on discriminatory “payments””, and “Shell divestment will not stop the payment of our 10 years land rent arrear”, amongst others.

Speaking at the protest, a representative of the oil-bearing communities, Chief Ayiba Job of Azagbene Community in Bayelsa State, accused SPDC, now Renaissance Africa Energy, of ignoring the demands of the affected communities.

Job said the communities had petitioned the Senate over the matter, leading to a Senate resolution on the payment of the ground rent.

He said the affected communities are entitled to ground rent payments every five years, adding that payments made between 2009 and 2014 were followed by disagreements over different rates paid to various communities.

Job said, “They pay our community, particularly my community, Azagbene, they pay us N200,000 per hectare and Bonny (Rivers State), Focados (Delta State), Shell Residential Area (Rivers State) N600,000 per hectare. So, how could that be? It’s not proper.

“I am producing the oil, and you’re giving my money out, instead of giving us the rights given to other people, paying them higher than we that are producing the oil. And we say no, it’s not proper, the right thing should be done.”

He said the Senate resolution, reached in March 2019, called for a uniform payment of 600,000 naira per hectare, but alleged that SPDC, now Renaissance Africa Energy, had not implemented the resolution.

Job also said the company later approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the Senate resolution, but that the case was struck out.

He explained that the ground rent does not apply to every oil-bearing community, but to communities whose lands were acquired between 1970 and 1978.

According to him, SPDC paid 40,000 naira per hectare in 2009, before the rate was reviewed in 2014, with some communities receiving 200,000 naira per hectare while others received 600,000 naira.

Explaining his objection to the payment arrangement, Job said, “There’s no way a tenant will wake up one day and say to his landlord, this is what I will pay you. It’s not one anywhere. Renaissance or SPDC, they are tenants to us. We’ve been taking care of them, they should also consider us.

“If you want to make anything like this negotiation, you must call the right people at the right time, negotiate an agreement. The landlord will tell you this is what I want.”

Job further alleged that SPDC, now Renaissance Africa Energy, had not been able to explain why some communities received higher payments than others.

He added that the relevant government authorities were aware of the dispute.

The protesters are therefore calling on President Bola Tinubu to intervene by directing Renaissance Africa Energy to comply with the Senate resolution and pay what they describe as outstanding ground rent arrears owed to the oil-bearing communities.

DAILY POST reports that Renaissance Africa Energy’s Vice President, Relations and Sustainable Development, Mr Igo Weli, who spoke on behalf of the company at the protest, said relevant government agencies were already handling the matter and urged the protesters to allow the authorities to resolve it in line with the Constitution and existing joint venture agreements.

He said the company recognised the communities and individuals from whom it acquired land and had documentation showing that it fulfilled its agreed obligations to them.

“We know our landlords, the people who we took land from. We have documents from those who we got land from.

“We have paid them what we agreed, and they signed off our documents. So, we are not losing sleep over this because we are in good terms with our landlords,” he said.

Weli added that the company renegotiates leases with landlords whenever existing agreements expire, in line with its standard procedures.