A Nigerian court dismisses a traditional monarch’s lawsuit seeking to halt Shell’s onshore asset sale over pollution claims.
YENAGOA (Nigeria): A Nigerian court Friday dismissed a lawsuit by a traditional monarch in the oil-rich delta region seeking to halt Shell’s plan to offload its onshore assets over accusations of decades of environmental pollution.
Bubaraiye Dakolo, the monarch of Ekpetiama kingdom in southern Bayelsa state, had taken the British energy giant to court after it announced conclusion of the sale of its Nigerian onshore assets in March 2025.
The case sought to block Shell’s exit from Nigeria’s onshore oil sector, without cleaning up decades of pollution.
Decades of extensive oil spills and gas flaring had caused severe environmental damage that destroyed fishing and farming livelihoods in parts of the Niger delta region, which accounts for most of Nigeria’s oil production.
Farming and fishing communities in the Niger Delta, the heartland of Nigeria’s crude production, have borne the brunt of pollution.
But a Federal High Court judge in Bayelsa, Ayo Emmanuel, ruled that the suit was “premature and incompetent,” adding that the allegations against the oil giant were statute-barred under Nigerian law.
“The statement of claim predominantly seeks reliefs for environmental damages, negligence, and the halting of commercial asset divestments,” the judge said. “It does not qualify as a fundamental rights action.”
A four-year-long investigation by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission – a panel of international experts and prominent figures – concluded in 2023 that it would cost $12 billion to clean up Bayelsa state.
Bayelsa is where oil was first discovered in Africa in the 1950s, and where companies, including Shell, have operated for decades.
Dakolo’s lawyer said they will appeal the ruling.
“We shall fight this matter to the utmost end and are already looking forward to the Supreme Court,” Chukwudi Uguru told journalists after the court session. “We are not discouraged.”
In March 2025, Renaissance Africa Energy, a consortium of Nigerian indigenous oil companies, completed the acquisition of Shell’s onshore and shallow-water oil and gas assets in Nigeria following the multinational’s divestment from the business.
Renaissance Africa Energy was also listed among the defendants in the case including Nigeria’s attorney general, the oil minister and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
