N800bn Judgment: Shell MD, Others Ordered to Appear April 8

The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, Imo State yesterday ordered the Managing Director and the other three management staff of Shell Petroleum Company to appear before it on April 8, 2022 to show cause why they should not be committed to the cordial centre for contempt of court.

The MD and other management staff had been ordered to appear yesterday.  But they failed to show up and the court took serious exception to their conduct.

In their ruling on the application to commit them for contempt, the court ordered that they must personally appear on 8th April 2022 to show cause why they should not be committed for contempt for failing to deposit the judgment sum in court as directed.

The matter now stands adjourned to 8th April 2022 for the personal appearance of the Shell MD and his key directors.

The three-man appeal court presided over by the Honourable Justice Rita Pemu  had on March 23, expressed displeasure of the management of Shell for disobeying two court ruling against the company.

The judge said that Shell had disobeyed the lower court ruling and they ran to the appellate court and it also ruled that Shell should deposit the N800 billion against it to the court of appeal hidden account still the company disobeyed the ruling.

However, counsel to Shell, Chief J.J. Onanigbo Okpoko, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said his client would appeal the ruling.

Shell had applied for motion seeking an order staying the execution of the Federal High Court judgment in appeal number CA/OW/498/20 and appeal number CA/OW/490/20 respectively.

On the other hand, counsel to 1st to 88th respondents, Mohammed Ndarant Mohammed, a senior advocate of Nigeria prayed the court to ignore the motion for an order staying execution and urged the court to mandate the appellants to deposit the money in an interest account pending the final determination of the
appeal.

Mohammed also raised the fears the appellants were preparing to close shop in Nigeria and relocate to another country which would jeopardize the judgment if nothing was done.

THISDAY had previously reported that the Owerri Appeal court had ordered Shell to deposit N800 billion (about $2b) in 48 hours over alleged oil spillage.

This comes after Shell appealed a November 2020 Federal High Court ruling that ordered Shell to pay 800 billion naira ($1.95 billon) to 88 communities of Egbalor Ebubu in Rivers state, who had accused the company of an oil spill that damaged their farms and waterways.

The three-man panel had on Monday March 14,  ordered Shell Plc to stop selling any assets in Nigeria until a decision is reached on its appeal of the nearly $2 billion penalty.

The judges said Shell, acting through its agents or subsidiaries was restrained from “selling, allocating, vandalising or disposing off any of its assets/properties …” pending the determination of the appeal.

Okpoko said: “We are disappointed at this outcome. We have a strong belief in the merit of our case and will take immediate steps under the law to appeal and stay the execution of the decision until the appeal is determined.”

Shell started talks with the Nigerian government last year about selling its stake in Nigeria’s onshore fields, where it has been active since the 1930s, as part of a global drive to reduce its carbon emissions.

Representative of the communities, Mr. Johnson Emere Mba-Ngei, who is also the leader of Alliance for the Defense of Elements said they are happy with the ruling.

“We are very excited about today’s court ruling because over the years Shell has devastated our ecosystem. Our farm lands and fishing ponds were adversely destroyed by their activities. Due to their own negligence, they are to pay penalty for it,” he said.