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Kalabari threatens Shell over royalties

By on March 25, 2013

Chiefs of Kalabari land have threatened to kick out Anglo- Dutch oil giants, Shell, from their land if it goes ahead with its plans to reduce royalties to the people of the area, a step the company said it will take due to rising incidents of crude oil theft in the region.

The chiefs representing the kingdom, which includes Asari-Toru, Akuku-Toru and Degema Local Government Areas, said any slash in the royalties being paid to them will amount to a breach of the agreement signed with the people.

This warning was handed down yesterday by the traditional ruler of the kingdom, the Amayanabo of Kalabari, His Majesty, Prof. Theophilous J. T. Princewill, Amachree X1, while answering questions from journalists shortly after a special service at the African Church, Buguma City, in Asari-Toru Local Government Area of the state.

The occasion was to mark his 11th anniversary on the throne as Amayanabo of Kalabari Kingdom. He noted that the funds were part of the extant agreement between Shell and the kingdom to assist in the development of the area.

Princewill said; “Shell keeps mentioning that they were going to shut down their Trunk line. For the last six years or so, they gave us some money which we used in providing projects. Now that they are coming to the second phase of that agreement, they call it Global Memorandum of Understanding (G-MoU). Rather than increase that which is due to us, they want to reduce it by more than half, whereas in the last five years that they have benn operating, there was a promise to have 10 per cent increase annually. Instead of finding it necessary to review it upwards now that they are going to enter into a new agreement, they want to slash it down by more than a half. Of course, the Kalabaris will not agree,” he warned.

“Although, they said because of crude oil theft, they have their production in the Kalabari area dropped, but we did not believe that, that has happened. But if we go by that, there are other areas that there is no production whatsoever, but they have increased allocation to them.

“It is only in areas where they are having the fattest cow, they now want to decrease. So, if they want to insist on reducing what mandate they gave us, we will say no, we will not accept it. You either increase it or you don’t operate in our area,” he further warned.

Princewill added that the Kalabari Council of Chiefs had met severally with Shell, where the latter was told that whatever is in the territory belongs to the people and that the firm was only allowed to go and exploit it.

“If what they are doing is to make us suffer for it, we ask them (Shell) to pack up their things (facilities) and go, because we will not beg them to come and do it. If they don’t do it, there are other companies that will come in to do it. For many years now in Ogoni area, Shell is not operating, yet Nigeria has not died. If we stop Shell from operating in our territory, Nigeria will not die and that is our position.”

It will be recalled that the Managing Director of SPDC, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, had, in a news briefing in Port Harcourt, on March 2, said the firm may be compelled to shut down its Nembe-Creek Trunk line, NCTL, following the upsurge in crude oil theft and illegal bunkering, particularly in Kakrama, a community in Kalabari land and Awoba, in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area.

 

( NationalMirror)