The ECOWAS Court of Justice sitting in Abuja has let seven oil companies off the hook in an environmental degradation suit filed against them by a non-governmental organisation. The court said on Monday it did not have jurisdiction to try the companies operating in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. Included in the suit filed in July 2009 by the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), are...the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation...and six major oil companies operating in Nigeria over pollution and associated human rights violations in the Niger Delta. [also refers to Shell, Elf, Nigeria Agip Oil Company (joint venture Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Eni, ConocoPhillips), Chevron, Total, Exonmobil]