On March 16, 2019, within the Lokutu oil palm plantation concession area of the Canadian company Feronia Inc, in the Tshopo Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, military forces fired live bullets at local Bolombo and Wamba villagers in the municipality of Mwingi, and from Bokala-wamba.
The villagers took action and began harvesting and processing palm oil from the plantation themselves and destroyed multiple bridges used by the company for transport.
[3] 1°08′40″N 23°36′09″E / 1.1444°N 23.6025°E / 1.1444; 23.6025Between 12 and 16 September 2019, the national police arrested numerous villagers from communities involved in an international mediation process regarding the occupation of their land by the Canadian palm oil company Feronia Inc (PHC-Feronia in Lokutu).
Following a meeting between community leaders and members of the German development bank's complaint mechanism panel, these arrests were violently made in the middle of the night.
The Support and Information Network for National Organizations (RIAO-RDC) denounces the threats and attacks by PHC-Feronia targeting members of the communities that mandated RIAO-RDC to file a complaint on their behalf with the complaint mechanism of the DEG (German development bank) so that ultimately the Congolese communities can have their claims against this Canadian company heard at the international and national level.