Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The people of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State have explained why a case was instituted against Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

A landmark legal action had been instituted by His Royal Majesty, King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV of Ekpetiama Kingdom, and the people of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State against SPDC, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Attorney General of the Federation at the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, on June 20, 2024, with the full hearing scheduled to begin on July 22, 2025.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, a conglomerate of civil society organisations, including the International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta (IWG), Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and Social Action Nigeria, and legal advocates said that they are united in a common cause to demand justice for oil and gas bearing communities of the Niger Delta, who have endured over six decades of pollution, exploitation, and neglect.

They explained that the plaintiffs, led by HRM King Dakolo, are seeking a judicial declaration that Shell’s purported divestment from onshore assets in the Niger Delta violates the Nigerian law, including the Petroleum Industry Act (2021) and relevant constitutional provisions protecting the right to life, human dignity, and the right to a clean and healthy environment.

They disclosed that among the key claims made in the suit are: ‘That Shell and its corporate affiliates have caused catastrophic environmental damage, destroyed livelihoods, and harmed the health of community members through un-remediated oil spills, gas flaring, and the abandonment of toxic infrastructure in the Gbarain oil fields, located within the Ekpetiama Kingdom; That Shell’s proposed sale of its 30 percent stake in SPDC to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited and other buyers is being conducted without fulfilling its legal obligations to decommission facilities, restore impacted sites, and compensate affected communities.

“Also, that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and other state actors have failed in their statutory duties to protect host communities, and instead facilitated a divestment process that shifts environmental and financial liabilities onto the Nigerian state and its people, rather than making the polluter to pay.”

The plaintiffs are asking the court for: A declaration that the divestment is unlawful; an injunction restraining Shell and its successors from finalising the transaction until legal obligations are met; and an order compelling the government and regulatory agencies to fulfil their constitutional responsibilities to uphold environmental and human rights.

On his part, the Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, said: “The Niger Delta has long been a brutalised sacrifice zone for fossil fuel colonialism. For more than 70 years, transnational oil companies, led by Shell, have extracted wealth from our lands and waters, leaving behind poisoned creeks, flaring skies, and broken lives.

“Ekpetiama is one of many communities that have become crime scenes of ecological warfare. This lawsuit is not simply about a community asserting its rights-it is about resisting annihilation.”

He added that: “At Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), we hold that true justice must begin with the recognition that the environment is not a passive backdrop. It is life itself. A just transition must therefore start with healing the wounds of exploitation, ensuring that polluters do not run away but pay up, clean up, and restore what they have destroyed.

“The findings of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) make the situation painfully clear: Shell’s legacy is one of death zones, toxic exposure, loss of livelihoods, and denial of dignity. That is why we stand in unwavering solidarity with His Royal Majesty King Bubaraye Dakolo and the people of Ekpetiama.

“We call on the Nigerian state and the international community to reject Shell’s attempts to escape justice and to affirm that environmental crimes must be met with uncompromising accountability.”

King Bubaraye Dakolo, the Agada IV of Ekpetiama Kingdom, who is the chair of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, in his assertion, said: “This case is not just about me or my kingdom, it is about justice for the entire Niger Delta. But allow me to speak from personal experience of the gas flares from the Gbarain Gas Plant that blaze day and night just outside my window. I live with the constant light that has obliterated the night, the noise, and the poison in the air. My people drink from polluted streams and farmlands laced with crude oil. Our children breathe soot. Our people now suffer from cancers and unexplained diseases that were unknown before advent of oil.

“We have been treated as collateral damage in the ruthless pursuit of oil wealth. Our lands are poisoned, our rivers destroyed, and our people silenced. The realities have been documented in the report of international experts who were part of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC).”

He noted that 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 State are impacted by hydrocarbon pollution; communities have been exposed to chromium, benzene and other cancer-causing chemicals far exceeding World Health Organisation safety limits; and oil spills have contaminated nearly all primary water sources, forcing residents to rely on visibly polluted creeks and ponds, he stated.

It also showed that soil samples revealed extremely high levels of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), rendering lands unfit for agriculture; 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; and environmental justice for victims continues to be a mirage, as mechanisms for legal redress fail to hold Shell and other oil companies accountable for the environmental genocide meted out on the people of Bayelsa State.

The paramount ruler lamented that: “Shell operated in my kingdom with reckless disregard for life, law, and legacy. Now they want to walk away, sell off their assets, and evade responsibility. We say no. We demand justice. This lawsuit is a cry for recognition, reparation, and restoration.

“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, international observers, and justice-seeking people everywhere to follow this case closely. Let Shell know that the Niger Delta is not for sale.”

The lead counsel for the Plaintiffs, chuks Uguru, said: “We have commenced legal action against SPDC, Shell Corporation, Renaissance Group, and federal agents over the unlawful divestment of oil assets in Ekpetiama Kingdom. Shell seeks to relinquish its assets and exit its decades-long operations in the region without addressing its environmental liabilities, in violation of Nigerian environmental laws and international standards.

“The right to a clean and healthy environment is a fundamental human right under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Communities have endured loss of livelihoods, health impacts, and irreversible ecological damage.

“This suit demands that the divestment process be halted until full environmental remediation, decommissioning of obsolete infrastructure, and compensation to affected communities are carried out. We trust that the Federal High Court will act to uphold justice, enforce the rule of law, and protect the rights of the people of Ekpetiama and the entire Niger Delta.”

The Programme Manager, Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action Nigeria), Dr. Prince Edegbuo, on his part, said: “For nearly two decades, Social Action Nigeria has worked closely with frontline communities in the Niger Delta to expose systemic environmental and social injustices perpetrated by multinational oil companies. The story of the Ekpetiama Kingdom is emblematic of the broader experience of communities across the region whose lands have been sacrificed on the altar of fossil fuel extraction.

“In this case, we see an opportunity to shift the narrative away from impunity and denial toward accountability, redress, and repair. We must redefine what energy transition means for those who have borne the costs of extraction.

“Social Action Nigeria is proud to stand with the Ekpetiama people and other impacted communities. We support their legal challenge and broader struggle for recognition and restitution.

Nigeria must rise above capture by vested interest. Our systems of justice and governance must serve the people, not just a few corporate profiteers and their enablers.

“We urge the judiciary, civil society, and the broader public to view this case as a watershed moment. Let it mark the beginning of an era where they lived condition of Nigerian citizens matter.”

​