Court stops Shell divestment over Ondo community’s N3.1tr suit
By Mohammed Baba Busu
A Federal High Court sitting in Akure has stopped Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) from alleged attempted divestment following a N3.1 trillion suit filled against it by Ugbo-Ilaje community in Ondo State.
Justice T. B. Adegoke, the presiding Judge dropped the hammer on Friday while ruling on an exparte motion filed by the community through its Counsel, Bar. Mohammed Ndarani (SAN).
The judge explained that the order became imperative in view of its exigency so that the coy would not divest and rendered the suit null and void or an exercise in fertility.
Consequently, the judge restrained SPDC and four others from selling, allocating, vandalising and or disposing of any of their assets/properties including official structures, oil wells, oil fields, installations, vehicles, equipment, investments, offshore or onshore or any of its properties in any part of Nigeria.
“This order will subsist pending the determination of the suit filed against the respondents by indigenes of Ugbo-Ilaje, for which they secured a Mareva order against Shell.
“Therefore, This suit shall be given an accelerated hearing, ” Justice Adegoke assured.
The restraining order followed an ex-parte motion filed and argued by Bar. Mohammed Ndarani (SAN) on behalf of the applicants – Prince Afolabi Akinruntan and 1,215 others in the Ugbo-Ilaje community in Ondo state.
The plaintiffs in suit numbered FHC/AK/CS/68/2023, had raised the alarm over the plan by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to sell its Nigerian onshore oil subsidiary in the midst of litigation.
“The plaintiffs had suit Shell International Company Limited, Shell International Exploration and Production Limited, Attorney-General of the Federation and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) as 1st – 4th respondents.
They prayed the court to prevail on the Federal Government to reject the oil giant’s bid to sell off its assets until it complies with the order of the court.
The plaintiffs who are seeking for N3.1 trillion compensation enjoined the court to enforce their rights and to order the remediation of their environment allegedly damaged by the oil spillage of the first and second respondents’ ruptured pipelines.
The applicants claimed that “the exparte motion became imperative to stop Shell from divesting so as not to render the case nugatory/academic should the verdict go in their favour.
Nevertheless, the judge, who barred Shell from selling or divesting any of its assets in the country adjourned the case to Jan 29 for hearing.(NAN)
