- Wants the process declared null and void
- CSOs back action for social accountability
BY COBHAM NSA – The People of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State and their traditional ruler, His Royal Majesty (HRM) King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV, have dragged the Federal Government, Shell Petroleum Company Group (SPCG), and Renaissance African Energy Limited (RAEL) to the Federal High Court, Yenagoa Division, demanding justice for what they described as “environmental crimes” against them.
Specifically, the people “are seeking a judicial declaration that Shell’s purported divestment from onshore assets in the Niger Delta violates Nigerian law, including the Petroleum Industry Act (2021) and the relevant constitutional provisions protecting the right to life, human dignity, and the right to a clean and healthy environment.”
Suing for himself, the leadership and members of Ekpetiama Kingdom, the Bayelsa Monarch’s suit that kicks against the divestment process and marked: FHC/YNG/CS/8/2025 was filed on May 26th 2025, and mentioned for the first time on June 20, 2025 with the full hearing slated to commence on July 22, 2025.
The suit is making claims against the following: 1st 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 7th Defendant – Renaissance African Energy Limited.
The Plaintiffs, led by King Dakolo, while marshalling out the grievances that saw them approaching the court, alleged that Shell has operated in his kingdom “with reckless disregard for lives, law, and legacy”, adding that the company cannot just “walk away, sell off their assets, and evade responsibility.”
“We say no. We demand justice”, the Bayelsa traditional ruler declared as he laid bare the facts at a media briefing in Abuja convened by a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that includes International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and the Just Transition in the Niger Delta (IWG), Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action Nigeria) and legal advocates.
These various groups are united in a common cause “to demand justice for oil and gas bearing communities of the Niger Delta that have endured over six decades of pollution, exploitation and neglect.”
In his statement of claims, King Dakolo, who also Chairs the Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers’ Council, alleged that Shell has operated in his kingdom “with reckless disregard for lives, law, and legacy”, adding that the company cannot just “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”, he said while maintaining that Shell must know: “The Niger Delta is not for sale”.
Listed among the key claims in the suit are:
“That Shell and its corporate affiliates have caused catastrophic environmental damage, destroyed livelihoods through unremediated oil spills, gas flaring, and harmed the health of community members within the Ekpetiama and Gbarain oil fields, located in the Gbarain Kingdom.
“That Shell’s proposed sale of its 30% stake in SPDC to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd. and other buyers is being conducted without fulfilling its legal obligations to decommission facilities, restore impacted sites, and compensate affected communities.
“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 pay.”
Additionally, 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.”
We Demand Corporate Accountability – CSOs
For the coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), this case is a demand for justice, dignity, and corporate accountability in the Niger Delta region.
In his acknowledgement of the broad support from national and international CSOs concerned about environmental justice and a just energy transition, Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) lamented that; “The Niger Delta has long been a brutalised sacrifice zone for fossil fuel colonialism.”
According to him, “For more than seventy 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.”
Bassey, who explained that the lawsuit is not simply about a community asserting its rights, said, “It is about resisting annihilation”, adding, “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.”
On his part, the Programme Manager of Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action Nigeria), Dr Prince Edegbuo said, “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.”
He said Social Action Nigeria sees the case as 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.”
Edegbuo, who emphasised his organisation’s support for the Ekpetiama people and other affected communities, said, “We support their legal challenge and broader struggle for recognition and restitution. Nigeria must rise above capture by vested interests. 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 the lived condition of Nigerian citizens matters.”
It’s A Fight For Posterity And Reason – Lead Counsel
In his remarks, Lead Counsel for the plaintiffs, Barrister Chuks Uguru, described the case as a fight for posterity and reason, noting that, “The right to clean and healthy environment is a fundamental human right under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights”.
He said having “endured loss of livelihoods, health impacts, and irreversible ecological damage”, the affected communities are demanding through the suit that ” the divestment process be halted until full environmental remediation, decommissioning of obsolete infrastructure, and compensation to affected communities are carried out.”
While expressing his confidence in the judicial process, Barrister Uguru said; “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.”
In urging the media to amplify the call for justice, all the stakeholders submitted that, “This case, Dakolo vs. Shell, is a beacon of hope for all those demanding accountability, equity, and dignity in the face of fossil fuel injustice, adding; “And we warn Shell and its enablers: the days of consequence-free exploitation are over.”
