From Kenechukwu Obiajuru, Yenagoa
The Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Friday adjourned to July 22, 2025, a high-profile lawsuit challenging the recent divestment by Shell UK PLC of its onshore and shallow water assets previously operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
The suit, filed by His Royal Majesty King Bubaraye Dakolo, the Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Yenagoa Local Government Area, contests the legality of the divestment process under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
The monarch is also seeking environmental remediation and redress for what he describes as the cumulative pollution and ecological degradation of his kingdom over the past four decades.
Ekpetiama Kingdom, home to the Gbarain-Ubie Gas Processing Plant and the Gbarain oilfields, is one of the key host communities affected by Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta. The traditional ruler contends that the divestment process failed to comply with the community engagement and environmental protection guidelines stipulated in the PIA, thereby infringing on the rights of the host communities.
When the matter came up for mention on Friday, counsel to the plaintiff, Mr. Chuks Uhuru, moved an ex parte application seeking leave of court to serve the court summons on Shell UK PLC, which is domiciled outside Nigeria, through substituted means. The application was granted by the presiding judge, Justice Ayo Emmanuel, who ordered that the summons be served on the United Kingdom-based parent company as well as other international defendants via alternative legal channels.
Justice Emmanuel subsequently adjourned the case to July 22, 2025, for the commencement of substantive hearing.
Listed as defendants in the suit with case number FHC/YNG/CS/81/2025 are Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, Shell Petroleum N.V., Shell UK PLC, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Minister of Petroleum Resources, and Renaissance Africa Energy Ltd.
It would be recalled that in March 2025, Renaissance Africa Energy, a consortium of Nigerian oil companies, completed the acquisition of Shell’s onshore and shallow water
