British oil explorer Soco International Plc defended paying $42,250 to an army major in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a security measure, after an anti-corruption group accused the officer of demanding bribes.
London-based Global Witness said in a statement on Wednesday that it obtained documents showing Soco’s payments to the Congolese major.
Global Witness and other human rights groups have accused the officer of trying to bribe and intimidate campaigners who opposed efforts by Soco to search for oil in Congo’s Virunga National Park.
Soco “funded the work of the DRC army in providing a security escort to ensure the personal safety of its staff and contractors during seismic” operations, the London-based company said in an e-mailed response to questions.
“We strongly refute any suggestion that this funding was in any way improper or connected with alleged acts of intimidation or violence.”
Soco last year said it had decided against drilling in an area of Virunga, which is a Unesco World Heritage site and home to many of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas.
The Oscar-nominated 2014 documentary film about the park, titled “Virunga,” shows hidden-camera footage of the same army major identified in the Global Witness report offering a $3,000 bribe to a park ranger to leak information to Soco.
Congo’s government has said it’s considering changing the park’s boundaries to enable oil exploration.
The country, one of the world’s least developed, has seen oil production remain stagnant at about 25,000 barrels per day since the 1970s, the International Monetary Fund said in 2013.
Congolese army spokesman General Leon Kasonga didn’t answer his mobile phone when Bloomberg called seeking comment.
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