Nigeria: Niger Delta monarch sues Shell over environmental damage and demands $12 billion for clean-up amid divestment
" Nigerian monarch demands $12 bn for clean-up before oil giant Shell exit" 21 June 2025
Bubaraye Dakolo of the Ekpetiama Kingdom appeared before a federal high court in the southern city of Yenagoa on Friday demanding reparations for clean-up after decades of environmental damages by Shell, according to a statement by a coalition of civil society groups. Farming and fishing communities in the Niger Delta, the heartland of Nigeria's crude production, have fought years of legal battles over damage from oil spills in the area. [...] The monarch's legal challenge was prompted by Shell's recent divestment of $2.4 billion in Nigerian assets as it shifts to offshore operations.
The monarch and several civil society groups accused Shell of trying to "exit the Niger Delta without first decommissioning obsolete infrastructure, remediating environmental damage, and compensating the Ekpetiama people for long-standing harm". He claims Shell's activities have led to massive oil spills, gas flaring, and the destruction of fishing and farming while rendering rivers, forests and farmland toxic.
The case came up for mention and has been adjourned to 22 July.[...]