The assessment of compensation in compulsory acquisition of oil and gas bearing lands in the Niger delta
Oil and gas production processes place huge demands on land resources, land administration and land management in different parts of the world. In Nigeria, the transportation of oil and gas, their by-products and refined products is conducted through complicated pipeline networks traversing thousands of kilometres and criss-crossing several communities in the Niger Delta region. Land is usually acquired compulsorily to facilitate this process and the assessment of adequate compensation to deprived communities and individual landowners has remained an area of continuous contention and conflict within the region. The general feeling and expression of dissatisfaction with the quantum of compensation laid out land in the exercise of compulsory acquisition powers is one of the issues fuelling the current Niger Delta crisis.