Section 101: Damage to Protected and Venerated Objects.

1 A licensee or lessee shall not enter upon, occupy or exercise any of the rights or powers conferred by its licence or lease in relation to any—
a area held to be sacred, the question as to whether the area is sacred or not shall be decided by the customary court of the area, where necessary;
b part of the following relevant areas, except it obtains a written permission from and subject to conditions as may be imposed by the Commission, any part—
(i) set apart for, used or appropriated or dedicated to public purposes,
(ii) occupied for the purposes of the Government of the Federation or a State,
(iii) situate within a township, town, village, market, burial ground or cemetery,
(iv) which is the site of or is within 50 yards of any building, installation, water reservoir, dam, public road or tramway or which is appropriated for or situate within 100 metres of any railway, or
(v) of the land under cultivation;
c any part consisting of privately owned or legally occupied land other than private land falling under paragraph (b) except permission in writing to do so has been obtained by the licensee or lessee from the Commission, which may grant permission if the licensee or lessee has—
(i) given previous notice in writing to the Commission specifying by name or other sufficient designation and by quantity, the land proposed to be occupied and the purpose for which it is required, and
(ii) paid or tendered to the person in lawful occupation or the owner or owners of the land fair and adequate compensation; and
d dispute under paragraph (c) as to who is in lawful occupation or the owner of any land or as to the amount of any compensation payable, the licensee or lessee, pending the determination of the dispute, shall deposit with the Federal High Court, with jurisdiction over the matter, such sum as shall be determined by the Federal High Court to be reasonable compensation payable to the rightful owner or occupier of the land, having due regard to the existing regulatory framework.

2 A person shall not, in the course of petroleum operations—
a injure or destroy any tree or object which is—
(i) of commercial value, or
(ii) the object of veneration to the people resident within the licence or lease area;
b damage or destroy any building or property; or
c disturb or damage the surface of the land or any other rights to any person who owns or is in lawful occupation of the surface area covered by the licence or lease.

3 A licensee or lessee who causes damage under subsection (2) shall pay fair and adequate compensation to the persons or communities directly affected by the damage or injury.

4 The amount of compensation payable under subsections (1) (c) (ii) and (3) shall be determined by the Commission and prescribed by regulation made under this Act.

5 Where a licensee or lessee fails to pay compensation as prescribed under subsection (4) within 30 days, the Commission may apply sanctions in accordance with regulations made under this Act.