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JOHANNESBURG. – French oil firm TotalEnergies has rejected accusations in a “negligence and indirect manslaughter” lawsuit three survivors and four relatives of victims of a 2021 insurgent attack in Mozambique have levelled against it.

Islamist rebels stormed the coastal city of Palma in March 2021, murdering many citizens in neighbourhoods near Mozambique’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) installations that were partially owned by TotalEnergies.

In the suit, the plaintiffs argue that TotalEnergies failed to inform subcontractors of the risks of violent attacks in the area where its Mozambique LNG was.

They also argue that TotalEnergies didn’t want to be associated with South African security company, Dyck Advisory Group (DAG), for assistance when disaster struck.

However, in a statement, TotalEnergies said it “was not provided access to this complaint” prior to this stage, and as such, with what’s at hand, it would like “to categorically reject these accusations”.

The company also said the insurgency in the Cabo Delgado province, where its Mozambique LNG Afungi site is located, had security issues long before their arrival.

“The conflict in the Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique predates gas development in the region and is linked to many factors unrelated to Mozambique LNG,” it said.

According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), there is historical disgruntlement due to the socioeconomic exclusion of locals in Cabo Delgado that stretches long before the gas finds.

As such, with new resources, established locals want the structural injustices from the past addressed.

TotalEnergies agrees that the attack that lasted for days claimed many lives, but the number was unknown.

“To the best of our knowledge, there exists no official count of the number of dead and missing civilians following the Palma attack, but this tragic terrorist attack claimed many lives and caused part of the civilian population to flee the area,” the oil firm said.

In the same vein, TotalEnergies disowned claims made in the class suit that it didn’t help in the evacuation process.

As soon as the attacks had started and the situation had been assessed, Mozambique LNG lent its assistance to the Mozambican authorities, namely by supplying fuel for the evacuation and rescue operations.

“The runway at the Afungi site was used by the authorities of Mozambique and international organisations operating in the area to evacuate people by air,” TotalEnergies said in a statement.

In the class suit, the oil giant is accused of refusing to cooperate with the local security company. In its explanation, TotalEnergies said it was due to concerns raised prior about the security company’s conduct in the community.

“Regarding the blame made against TotalEnergies for having refused to supply fuel to the South African private security company, DAG, this company was contracted in 2020 by the government of Mozambique to carry out offensive, military security missions against terrorist groups in northern Mozambique. – News24.com