Oil communities in Niger Delta protest alleged N87bn ground-rent debt

Some members of oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta have protested against what they described as N87 billion in outstanding ground-rent payments allegedly owed by Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd. (RAEC).

The protesters, drawn from communities in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and Rivers states, staged a peaceful demonstration on Thursday in front of the RAEC headquarters in Port Harcourt.

The protesters marched from Stadium Road through Rumuomasi before terminating their procession at the company’s office.

They carried placards with inscriptions including, “President Bola Tinubu, intervene and direct RAEC to comply with Senate Resolution,” “Asiwaju, save our soul,” “RAEC must obey the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources,” and “Shell divestment will not stop our demand for 10 years land use.”

Speaking, a representative of the communities, Chief Ayiba Job, alleged that RAEC, formerly Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, had failed to settle outstanding ground-rent obligations owed to more than 100 oil-bearing communities and families.

Job also alleged that the company had not complied with a Senate resolution on the matter or a directive of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

“We are protesting today about the refusal of Renaissance to pay N87 billion owed over 100 oil-bearing communities and families in six states of the Niger Delta,” he said.

He said the alleged N87 billion represented accumulated shortfalls arising from what the communities described as discriminatory ground-rent payments.

According to him, Shell previously paid ground rent to oil-bearing communities every five years, with uniform payments made between 2009 and 2014.

Job said the company subsequently increased the ground rent from N200,000 to N300,000 per hectare, but alleged that some communities later received as much as N600,000 per hectare.

“It is unfortunate that up till now, they still pay some oil-bearing communities, particularly my community, N300,000 per hectare,” he said.

He argued that ground-rent payments should be uniform across oil-producing communities, describing the alleged disparity in payments as unfair.

“Instead of giving our money to us, they are giving it to other people, paying them higher than communities that are producing the oil,” he said.

Job said the affected communities had previously taken the matter before the National Assembly, which, according to him, passed a resolution directing the company to make the payments.

He further alleged that RAEC subsequently approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, which struck out the company’s case and directed it to comply with the Senate resolution.

“Ten years after, Renaissance has not done anything in the matter,” he said.

Job urged RAEC to comply with the directives of relevant government institutions, resolve the dispute with the affected communities and settle the alleged arrears.

He warned that continued failure to address the issue could heighten tensions in the affected communities.

“We are worried that the continued intransigence by RAEC regarding compliance with Nigerian government institutional recommendations is likely to cause unrest in the communities,” he said.

He appealed to the Federal Government to intervene in the dispute to protect the welfare of the communities and safeguard national security and oil-producing infrastructure.

RAEC responds

Responding, the Vice-President, Relations and Sustainable Development at Renaissance, Mr Igo Weli, said relevant government agencies were already handling the matter.

Weli urged the protesters to allow the appropriate authorities to resolve the dispute in accordance with the Constitution and existing joint venture agreements.

He said the company recognised the communities and individuals from whom it acquired land and maintained documentation covering the agreements.

According to him, RAEC had fulfilled its obligations to the landlords in line with the agreements and obtained signed documents confirming the arrangements.

“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 explained that the company renegotiated leases with landlords whenever existing agreements expired, in accordance with its established procedures.

The dispute therefore remains centred on the communities’ claims of outstanding and unequal ground-rent payments and RAEC’s position that it has fulfilled its contractual obligations to its recognised landlords.