Train 7 Blockade: Protesters Are Trespassing on Our Land – Jumbo Major House

The Jumbo Major House of Bonny Kingdom has warned the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited and its contractors, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited and Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited to be mindful of who they discuss issues related to the land housing its Train 7 project.

Chairman of Jumbo Major House, Wari-Alabo Sodienye Jumbo issued this warning in a virtual interview with Kristina Reports on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 while reacting to news of the blockade of the Train 7 project site by Finima Community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited, and Cico Construction and Leasing Company are contractors to SCD JV (Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo Joint Venture), which is the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor to NLNG for the Train 7 project.

Youths from Finima Community defied Tuesday morning’s heavy downpour in Bonny Island to shut down the H Block entrance to the Train 7 site thus preventing workers of the various companies on the project from accessing their worksites.

Reacting further to the development, Wari-Alabo Jumbo stated that the Train 7 project site is part of the land leased to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), asserting therefore that the said protesters from Finima were trespassing on land belonging to the House.

“I wish to confirm that Train 7 sites is part of our (Jumbo Major House) land on lease to SPDC. On what I think about Finima protesting there, claiming it’s their land, I think they’re trespassing.”

“They’re taking advantage of the fact that the NLNG is at their door mouth. If they sneeze NLNG will easily hear.”

He appealed to Finima Community, especially, the Brown House, which is a joint landlord with it on the SPDC land, to exercise restraint on the issue, advising on the need to shun avoidable crisis in the pursuit of what he termed “the mutual benefits of the Train 7 project”.

The Jumbo Major House has in a recent publication on Kristina Reports outlined the areas across Bonny LGA that are lands legitimately belonging to it, including the area where the train 7 project is sited.

Tuesday’s blockade of the site further impacts on the delivery timeline of the Train 7 project which owner, the NLNG says was 65% completed.

There have been cries of marginalization, neglect and outright exclusion by stakeholders in the project from workers to communities and other entities without any obvious and deliberate attempt by the project owner or its contractors to obviate these concerns.

With this new twist in the narrative, NLNG like other international oil and gas companies (IOCs) in Nigeria may now revel in the catfight between the joint landlords of the SPDC land from where the NLNG site, including the Train 7 site is carved.

A Rivers State High Court had in suit number: PHC/2018/2017 delivered judgment in favour of Jumbo Major House against Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), declaring the ceding of a portion of the land leased to it by the Jumbo Major House and Brown House to secure its equity in NLNG.

A top security official in Bonny LGA, who preferred anonymity, advised the Jumbo and Brown Houses to align their interest and strategically engage the NLNG and its contractors, Saipem, Daewoo and Cico to present their demands in order to secure the best advantage, urging them to shun any form of acrimony between them.

He pointed out that multinationals in Nigeria, whose key agenda is to exculpate the land owners from the benefits of any project on their land, would rather have their host communities or landlords fighting amongst themselves than deliver on their commitments to them and many a time they get away with it.