From Seyi Tayese, Yenagoa
The Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, on Thursday granted a motion seeking to amend the spelling of the defendant’s name in an oil pollution case before the court.
The counsel to the plaintiffs Chigozie Inwere who held the brief of Iniruo Wills moved the motion, which was granted by trial judge, Justice Ayo Emmanuel.
The judge had on March 10, struck out a preliminary objection filed by Aiteo in a suit instituted by the Opu Nembe Kingdom over oil spills that impacted the community.
The objection was brought by the company on the grounds that the community had misspelled its name in the suit as Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Ltd instead of Aiteo Eastern E & P Company Ltd.
Shell Petroleum Development Company had in 2015 sold its OML 29 oil bloc to Aiteo, which currently operates in the area covering Opu Nembe and the neighbouring Otuabagi community where the legacy Oloibiri oil wells are located.
The suit arose from three oil spills, two that occurred in September and October 2019 along the Botokiri axis of the Nembe Creek Trunk Line and at the Santa Barbara Well 1 respectively, and another in May 2020 at Well 9 in the Odeama Creek Oil Field, all of which the community says heavily impacted the environment and led to loss of livelihoods, amongst other damages.
Consequently, on August 15, 2024, the Opu Nembe Kingdom, through King Iyerite Chiefson Awululu Atubu, Chief Dr. Ikaonaworio Eferebo-Igoma, Chief Dr. Markson Amaegbe-Tamuno and Mr. Doibo Evans, approached the court seeking environmental justice and remediation to the tune of N122 billion.
In the suit marked FHC/YN/CS/284/2024, the community, through its lead counsel, Mr. Iniruo Wills of Ntephe Smith and Wills, is asking the court, among other reliefs, to declare that the massive spills resulted from operational failure and negligence by the oil company.
