…asks court to declare process null and void

…CSOs back action 

By Emem Idio, Yenagoa 

The monarch of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State, HRM Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV, has kicked against the divestment process and suing for himself and the leadership and members of kingdom has dragged the federal government, Shell Petroleum Company group and Renaissance African Energy Limited to the Federal High Court, Yenagoa Division.

Listed as Defendants in a suit marked: FHC/YNG/CS/8/2025 filed on May 26th 2025 are; First Defendant Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC),2nd Defendant Shell Petroleum N.V., 3rd Defendant Shell PLC, 4th Defendant Attorney General of the Federation, 5th Defendants Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission(NUPRC), 6th Defendant Minister of Petroleum Resources, and Renaissance African Energy Limited as the 7th Defendant.

At the first mention of the case at the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Friday , the presiding judge Justice Ayo Emmanuel, granted the plaintiffs counsel led by Chucks Uguru, the leave to issue and serve the Defendants particularly offshore Defendants, the parent company of Shell by subsisted means, and adjourned the matter to July 22 for hearing.

Meanwhile, a coalition of civil society organisations have expressed their firm solidarity with His Royal Majesty, King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV of Ekpetiama Kingdom, who is also the Chair of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers.

The organisations namely; Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action Nigeria) Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF)International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and the Just Transition in the Niger Delta (IWG). Bayelsa State Non-Governmental Organisations Forum (BANGOF), HEDA Resource Centre, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, among others, described the action as the “struggle for justice and dignity in the Niger Delta.”

King Dakolo in his statement of claims argued argues that Shell’s planned divestment of its interest in the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) without fulfilling its environmental obligations in accordance with the Nigerian Constitution and laws is illegal and unjust, and that the Nigerian state, through the Minister of Petroleum Resources, NUPRC, and the Attorney General, has failed in its duty to prevent such corporate evasion of responsibility.

Therefore he said he and the Ekpetiama people are seeking to stop Shell’s planned divestment until Shell accounts for its environmental devastation, remediates polluted sites, decommissions obsolete infrastructure, and compensates the host communities affected by over six decades of irresponsible oil extraction.

Among others “a declaration that the purported divestment of the onshore and shallow-water oli and gas assets of the 1st defendants to the 7th Defendants executed without strict compliance with the mandatory provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Regulatory Divestment Framework, and without due consultation with and consent from the Plaintiff is unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.

“A declaration that the failure and refusal of the 1, 2nd and 3rd Defendants to carry out a comprehensive and participatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Host Community Development Plan (HCDP), Decommissioning and Abandonment Plan, prior to initiating and concluding the divestment process, is a violation of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 and international environmental law.

“A declaration that the 4th, 5th and 6th Defendants have failed in their statutory duties under the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, Including their obligations to regulate and monitor the divestment process, ensure stakeholder consultation and due diligence and safeguard the rights and interests of host communities like the Plaintiff.”

The plaintiff is also praying the court among others; “an order directing the 1st -3rd and 7th Defendants jointly and severally to immediately embark on comprehensive environmental dean-up, remediation and restoration of all polluted sites within Ekpetiama Kingdom.

“An order mandating the 1-3rd and 7th Defendants join to establish and fund a Community Environmental Rehabilitation Fund For Ekpetiama Kingdom to the tune of $1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion United States Dollars).

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendants from continuing operations in Ekpetiama Kingdom without first conducting an independent and transparent.environmental impact reassessment.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the 1, 2nd and 3rd Defendants whether by themselves, their agents , privies or assigns, from taking any further steps in furtherance of the said divestment from to the 7th Defendant or any other person, unless and until full compliance with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 is demonstrated and approved through judicial and regulatory processes.”

Lead Counsel to the plaintiffs Chuks Uguru, expressed confidence that the court will stand up, describing the case as a fight for posterity and reason.

He said: “This action against SPDC, Shell Corporation, Renaissance Group, and federal agents is over the unlawful divestment of oil assets in Ekpetiama Kingdom whose members have the fundamental right to a clean and healthy environment under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter.

“Backed by facts: the Bayelsa Commission report This case is grounded in the extensive findings of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC), composed of experts from Europe, North America, and Africa. The Commission revealed that: Bayelsa State suffers from some of the worst oil pollution levels in the world, resulting from the operations of Shell and other.international oil companies;

“Over 1.5 million people in Bayelsa are impacted by hydrocarbon pollution”