In September 2022, two large contingents of national police and military were dispatched to oil palm plantation concession areas of the Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) in Lokutu and Boteka. According to PHC, these heavily armed contingents were sent pursuant to a request filed by PHC to the DRC government, ostensibly for support in preventing the theft of palm nuts from its plantations by villagers living within and around the company’s concessions. Read a summary of what transpired, based on information collected by RIAO-RDC though its local members, interviews with affected villagers and an on-site fact finding mission to Boteka by two members of RIAO-RDC’s national office in October 2022. The summary can be accessed in English and French here.
In September 2022, two large contingents of national police and military were dispatched to oil palm plantation concession areas of the Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) in Lokutu and Boteka.