COMMUNITY ACTION
Event: Community Action Threat
Date and Time: 29 July 2019
Location: Ekeremor & Southern Ijaw LGAs, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Description: Several oil-producing communities in Bayelsa have issued a 21-day ultimatum to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) to pay them a claimed $14 million, or have SPDC’s oil facilities occupied and shut down.
The 12 communities operating under the umbrella group Iduwini, Mein, Kou and Bassan Cluster Development Boards stated that the figure claimed is an unpaid debt for sea anchorage for vessel’s deployed by SPDC, and has accumulated since 2016.
They also demanded that development funds paid yearly increased from $1 million to $10 million.
Analysis: Whilst there were some militant actions from this area in the 2000s, including kidnapping of expatriate oil workers, it is unlikely that this threat will turn to violence. Instead, the group will likely follow through with protests
at SPDC facilities, and may attempt to affect offshore operations by engaging in disruptive actions from small craft, such as deploying fishing nets in front of vessels.
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