The Rivers communities had petitioned the Nigerian Senate, alleging NLNG refused to pay compensation for acquiring their land and loss of use of the affected land to Pipeline Right of Way (ROW) through the communities.
The petitioner, Chief Enyinna Onuegbu brought the complaint on behalf of the communities located in Obiafu, Soku to Bonny, respectively.
The NLNG was said to have refused to appear before the Senate Committee to clear its name of the allegations raised against it over the land compensation dispute with the affected Communities.
This prompted the Senate to issue the ultimatum to the gas company, after considering the Senator Ayo Akinyelure – led Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition.
According to the Senate, NLNG would be made to face the consequences for failing to appear this time, vowing that if the authorities of the NLNG fail to appear before its Ethics Committee within seven days, the company would be made to pay the sum of N18.448billion recommended by the panel as compensation to the 73 communities.
The Red Chamber, in issuing the seven – day ultimatum, urged the company to produce relevant evidence to show it had paid compensation to the affected communities.
The consideration of the committee’s report was stepped down midway by the chamber, pending the outcome of the summons on NLNG.
The NLNG was incorporated as a Limited Liability company on May 27, 1989 to harness Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources for export.
In his presentation, Senator Akinyelure had said that “following the incorporation of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG Ltd), it acquired landed properties in Rivers State in 1996 spanning over 210 kiln for use as its pipelines Right of Way (ROW) which ended at the export terminal of the NLNG in Finima Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.
According to the Senator, the NLNG did not pay any compensation to the communities following acquisition of their land, as the Committee found: “That following the incorporation of the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) limited, it acquired landed properties in Rivers State in 1996 spanning over 210km for use as its pipelines Right of Way (ROW) which ended at the export terminal of the NLNGin Finima Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.
“That there were over 73 communities and over 200 families whose hitherto agrarian source of livelihood were negatively impacted upon by the said acquisition. That NLNG neither proved nor showed evidence to the Committee that it paid compensation to the 73 communities for loss of use of their land to pipelines Right of Way (ROW; and that there was no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the communities and the NLNG on future obligations in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility with the impacted communities.
“That there was evidence that oil companies such as Shell Petroleum Development Company, Totalfina, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd, Agip Oil Corporation paid compensation for loss of use of land to their host communities; and That the communities were claiming the sum of N18,448,842,500.00 being compensation for the loss of use of their land as at May, 2020.” The President of the Senator Ahmad Lawan who issued the summon said, “Instead of just saying NLNG should go and pay 18 billion and at the end of the day nothing happens, let us give NLNG one more chance, and this should be by the Senate itself, not our committee.
“I am sure NLNG is listening. NLNG should appear within one week before our Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions with their evidence of compensation. If they fail, then the Senate will take a decision on NLNG in this respect.”