Edith CHUKU
A coalition of civil society organisations has declared their solidarity with His Royal Majesty, King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV of Ekpetiama Kingdom and Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, on the suit filed against Shell, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Attorney General of the Federation.
The groups are, the Social Action Nigeria, Health of Mother Earth Foundation HOMEF, the International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and the Just Transition in the Niger Delta IWG, the Bayelsa State Non-Governmental Organisations Forum BANGOF, HEDA Resource Centre and Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre.
Their declaration followed the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, first hearing on the suit which challenged Shell’s attempt to divest its onshore oil assets and exit the Niger Delta without first decommissioning obsolete infrastructure, remediating environmental damage, and compensating the Ekpetiama people for long-standing harm.
The suit raises fundamental issues about the constitutional and environmental rights of the Niger Delta’s indigenous communities, Shell’s corporate liability, and the Nigerian government’s responsibility to protect its citizens.
Speaking, Director of Social Action Nigeria, Dr. Isaac Asume Osuoka, said “Shell wants to exit with profit, leaving behind toxic air, poisoned water, and broken communities.
“We are here to say: no more. Planned onshore asset selloffs by transnational oil corporations must not become a license to flee environmental accountability in the Niger Delta extraction sites, which is home to human beings.”
Executive Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation HOMEF, Mr Nnimmo Bassey, “the Niger Delta cannot be a sacrificial zone for fossil fuel greed.
“We stand in solidarity with King Dakolo and the people of Ekpetiama Kingdom in demanding that Shell pay for the damage it has done before it walks away.”
Also speaking, the Director of the Politics and Governance Programme at ODI Global and co-Convener of the IWG, Dr. Kathryn Nwajiaku‑Dahou, said “the evidence is clear. Seventy years of fossil fuel production in Nigeria’s Niger Delta has destroyed ecosystems, economies, environments and human habitats.
“If just transition is to be more than just a slogan, clean up, restoration, and repair must be mandatory for oil companies divesting, before they up sticks and leave.”
He noted that developments in the Niger Delta, which contains the most polluted oil and gas production sites in the world, have relevance for the global transition away from fossil fuels. That is why this case poses urgent questions about what a just transition means for communities here and others in the tropical regions of the Global South, which are at the frontlines of fossil extraction.
Head of the School of Law at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom, Prof Engobo Emeseh, who spoke for the Legal and Justice Committee of the IWG, said “It says clearly: there can be no just energy transition without corporate accountability, environmental restoration, and community consent.”
In their call for justice and dignity in the Niger Delta, the group revealed that Dakolo’s statement outlined how Shell’s operations in the Gbarain oil fields, located within the Ekpetiama Kingdom in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state have led to massive oil spills, gas flaring, and the destruction of fishing and farming livelihoods.
It also lamented that the community’s rivers, forests, and farmlands have been rendered toxic and unsustainable for life and livelihoods.
The plaintiffs argue 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 was 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.
Dakolo and the Ekpetiama people seeks 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.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that Shell’s proposed divestment without environmental remediation and decommissioning is unlawful, compel the NUPRC and federal authorities to fulfill their constitutional and statutory responsibilities, uphold the constitutional rights of affected communities under the Nigerian Constitution (right to life and dignity) and prevent the transfer of assets and liabilities to successor companies without legal and environmental accountability.
According to lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Mr. Chuks Uguru, “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.”
Findings of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC), revealed that the state suffers from some of the worst oil pollution levels in the world, resulting from the operations of Shell and other international oil companies.
Also, that over 1.5 million people in Bayelsa are impacted by hydrocarbon pollution. That communities have been exposed to Chromium, benzene and other cancer-causing chemicals far exceeding World Health Organization safety limits and how oil spills have contaminated nearly all primary water sources, forcing residents to rely on visibly polluted creeks and ponds.
The Commission also noted that soil samples revealed extremely high levels of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), rendering lands unfit for agriculture and air quality measurements near Shell facilities recorded particulate matter and soot far above permissible health thresholds.
In some communities, fish stocks have declined by over 70%, impacting food security and livelihoods;Shell and other oil companies have failed to carry out proper decommissioning and cleanup, leaving rusting, leaking pipelines and abandoned wellheads that continue to pollute.
Dakolo described the divestment as a crude attempt by Shell to run away from the disaster it created. “we demand justice, not abandonment. Shell must clean up, compensate, and decommission. Only then can it leave.”
To the judiciary, the civil society organisations gave a charge that it uphold the law, defend the people.
“We call on the Federal High Court to act decisively to restrain Shell and its partners from finalising any asset sale or divestment until full compliance with environmental and human rights obligations is demonstrated.
“Compel regulators like the NUPRC to enforce the Petroleum Industry Act and protect host communities. Affirm the rights of indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta to clean environments, safe livelihoods, and full consultation.
“This is a crucial moment in Nigeria’s environmental and legal history.
“The court has a unique opportunity to uphold justice, protect the rule of law, and demonstrate that no corporation is above accountability in Nigeria.”
