oil-bearing communities across six states in the Niger Delta have renewed their demands for the payment of alleged outstanding land acquisition fees and rentals by Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd, formerly Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).
The affected families and communities, acting through their agents, Parsley Consults Ltd. and Emagu Nigeria Ltd., claimed they were severely shortchanged.
They alleged a discriminatory compensation system where certain communities received preferential payments leaving others with accrued shortfalls in land rentals.
The prolonged dispute, which dates back to a 2017 petition, prompted a January 2019 Senate resolution mandating the harmonisation of payments and the implementation of uniform rates.
The communities and their legal representatives claimed that despite subsequent directives in 2023 from the Attorney General of the Federation and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources advising the oil firm to comply with the Senate resolution, the communities maintain that the funds remain unpaid.
In a letter dated September 24, addressed to the Managing Director of Renaissance Africa Energy, the communities’ legal counsel, Chibuzor Obiajunwa, expressed deep concern that the continued denial of their entitlements could trigger fresh unrest in the region.