ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Some land owners in Bayelsa State on Wednesday went on the rampage over alleged land grabbing by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).
They lamented that SPDC embarked on its project at the Akenfa/Okarki section of its Enwhe-Gbarain Phase 3A pipeline which they acquired legitimately from the Okarki community without paying them compensation.
The aggrieved land owners, who marched to the project site located along the Yenegwe-Okarki-Kolo Road, alleged that SPDC had destroyed their property because of the project.
They also accused the oil firm of forcefully carrying out excavation and laying of pipes, while threatening to use the security personnel to deal with them if they stopped the project.
The angry protesters brandished placards with inscriptions such as: ‘Shell, pay us before you use our land,’ ‘Shell is wicked,’ ‘Several buildings have been destroyed by Shell,’ ‘Shell pay for buildings you have destroyed before you start work,’ ‘Shell has refused to pay compensation for buildings destroyed’.
The incident, however, disrupted work at the site as the workers were forced to discontinue work.
The land owners also took their demonstration to the gate of Morpol Engineering Services, the contractors handling the job for the SPDC.
Speaking at the project site, Ms Ebipadei Ariwei, who led the protest, said her land which she bought in 2011 as well as her ongoing building project had been destroyed by SPDC.
Ariwei said: “We are here to protest Shell’s refusal to pay us compensation for our lands that they have destroyed. Without our knowledge, they came to the site and destroyed my building and started laying pipes.
“When I came and saw them excavating and scattering my building, I asked them why they were doing it and they said they are Shell, and that they are going to settle us because they want to acquire the land.
“They called me later that they want to negotiate but the negotiation has not been concluded, and they have come to forcefully lay pipes and destroy my building. I demand that they pay us adequate compensation.”
She said the SPDC was oppressing them because they are ordinary citizens, adding that “they are threatening me that if I don’t give up the land, they will use soldiers to brutalise me because it is a Federal Government project and they must take the lands by force.”
Another protester, Mr Training Ariwei, said his building was also destroyed and vowed that the demonstration would not stop until the SPDC settle all land owners adequately.
Training said: “My building was also destroyed just like that. I thought it was a joke. Shell’s presence in the Niger Delta is supposed to be a blessing to us, but they are sending us into poverty.”
The land owners appealed to the federal and state governments to caution SPDC to end the psychological trauma they are going through due to the destruction of their property without compensation.
Efforts to get the reaction of SPDC Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan, was unsuccessful as he did not take his calls.