A group of farmers in mining-affected communities in Nimba County, Liberia, have condemned Mines and Energy Minister Matenokay Tingban and accused ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) of refusing to pay resettlement benefits for damaged crops and land.
In an October 14, 2026 press statement shared with Verity News, the Concerned Farmers of Mining-Affected Communities, Inc. said Minister Tingban dismissed residents who sought dialogue in pursuit of their rights to secure unpaid benefits for their damaged crops and land.
According to the statement, Tingban allegedly told a community delegation, in the presence of AML officials including Acting CEO Anthony Hocken, that residents have no right to plant crops in the concession area because the government granted the entire area to AML.
The group says he repeated the position to the Vice President by phone and at a town hall in Gbapa. On an October 5, 2026 radio call-in, he reportedly said Yekepa-area claimants wanted US$2 million, while the company had offered US$1 million, which they rejected. The farmers say he made these claims without adequately investigating them.
The group says AML has since reportedly refused to compensate farmers, leaving thousands of rural families in hardship after taking their land and damaging their crops for mining purposes. The group argues that a concession agreement does not extinguish citizens’ right to compensation, citing Article 24 of the Liberian Constitution, the Mineral and Mining Law, and AML’s Mineral Development Agreement.
The group also pointed to an Environmental Protection Agency investigation into sediment-laden discharges from mining on Mount Yulleton and Mount Gangra into Bolo Town’s drinking water, which it says also found crop damage that remains uncompensated.
The group is demanding that Tingban retract his statement and that AML pay all outstanding resettlement benefits without delay. The affected communities have also asked the Vice President’s office to intervene and the Nimba County Legislative Caucus to hold a public hearing on land rights in concession areas.
Verity News made efforts to receive reactions from the Ministry of Mines and ArcelorMittal but to no avail up to reporting time.
