From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV, who is also Chairman, Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, has dragged Shell Petroleum Development Company and Shell Corporation to the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, over its divestment and exit from Nigeria.
The suit No FHC/YNG/ CS/81/2025 also listed as defendants, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. The suit 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. In the statement of claim, Dakolo outlined how Shell’s operations in the Gbarain oil fields, located within the Ekpetiama Kingdom in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state, led to massive oil spills, gas flaring, and the destruction of fishing and farming livelihoods.
The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that Shell’s proposed divestment without environmental remediation and decommissioning is unlawful, compel the NUPRC and federal authorities to fulfil their constitutional and statutory responsibilities, uphold the constitutional rights of affected communities under the Nigerian Constitution (right to life and dignity), prevent the transfer of assets and liabilities to successor companies without legal and environmental accountability.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Ayo Emmanuel, granted the plaintiffs’ application to serve some of the defendants domiciled in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands through substituted service. Chuks Uguru, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, in an interview, said the suit borders on the fundamental right to a clean and healthy environment under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter.
Meanwhile, a coalition of civil society organisations, including Social Action Nigeria, the 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, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, and others have expressed solidarity with King Dakolo.