Senate gives NLNG two months to pay N18.4 billion to host communities

The Senate has directed the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited to pay N18.4 billion compensation to 73 communities of Obiafu and Soku to Bonny in Rivers State for acquiring their land and loss of use of the affected land to pipeline Rights of Way through the communities. The Senate further directed that the payment should be made within sixty days.

The resolutions were adopted after the Senate considered the report of its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions that investigated a petition by the communities.

Presenting the report, the committee chairman, Senator Patrick Akinyelure said following its incorporation, the NLNG acquired landed properties in Rivers State spanning over 210 kilometres for use as its pipelines Right of Way which ended at the export terminal of the NLNG in Finima, Bonny local government of the state.

According to him, “There were over 73 communities and over 200 families whose hitherto agrarian source of livelihood was negatively impacted upon by the said acquisition.

“That after the recent intervention of the Senate and after being given one month instead of 7 days allowed by the Senate to provide evidence of payment to the Committee, the NLNG could only show evidence of payment to some individuals, families and communities.

“The total amount it paid for part of the 210 kilometres of land acquired for pipelines Rights of Way was N74,642,773.00 which is not significant when compared to the sum of N18.4 billion approximately demanded by the 73 communities and over 200 families, which has never been objected to by the NLNG up till now.

“That the payment made covered only 39 communities and 73 individuals and families; and that there was no Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) signed between the communities and NLNG on future obligations in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility with the impacted communities.”

He said there was evidence that other oil companies such as Shell Petroleum Development Company, Totalfina, Elf Petroleum, Agip Oil Company paid compensation for the loss of use of land to their host communities.

He added that NLNG confessed that, the payments were made long ago and could not reasonably trace most of the payments documents but promised to look for further evidence to show that it paid stakeholders concerned if given another one month to enable it do so.

“The committee considered their request unnecessary and unreasonable, having granted NLNG one month earlier instead of 7 days allowed by the Senate at plenary to conclude its report,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Senate yesterday suspended consideration of the report of its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions urging the National Security Adviser to vacate the request he made to the DSS to watch list one Mr. Sunny Oghale Ofehe.

The suspension of the report followed observations by many senators that watchlisting citizens is one of the ways of monitoring crime suspects by security agencies. They argued that it would amount to meddlesomeness to direct the DSS to vacate the watch list placed on the petitioner.

Presenting the report earlier, Akinyelure said the DSS confirmed that it placed Ofehe on a watch list on June 3rd, 2009 following a request from the office of the NSA via a letter with reference number NSA/INT/366/S, dated May 28th 2009.

He said, “In the latter, the petitioner was accused of being a self-acclaimed activist and President/Founder of Hope For the Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC) who went to the Netherlands and sough for political asylum on the basis of a false claim that the Federal Government of Nigeria assassinated his mother in the course of the Niger Delta crisis.

“He was also accused of using his organisation to swindle money from the Dutch government and other environmental organisations under the guise of facilitating peace process in the Niger Delta.”