Leaders of Ogoniland have vowed never to allow Shell Petroleum Development Company to return to their land for exploration operations on Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11 after the recent court judgment on the suit filed by the oil company.
The Ogoniland people, through the leader of Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI), Rev. (Dr) Douglas Fabekee, made the vow following the Court of Appeal judgment delivered last week, which handed over the management of OML 11 to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) after about 30 years of Shell operations.
Fabekee, who expressed delight over the judgment at Bori during an event organized by his civil society organization (CSO) to celebrate the court judgment, said that “the people of Ogoni will never allow Shell into their territory”, even as he commended President Muhammadu Buhari for peace which enabled the group to hold the event.
He enthused: “I want to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for providing us with a peaceful country and for us to gather here today. Under no circumstance will Shell return to Ogoni. Ogoni people are happy with the Appeal Court judgment that handed OML 11 to NNPC.
“We are here today for two occasions. First is to celebrate the Appeal Court judgment against Shell, which have taken the OML 11 license from Shell and given it to NPDC, a subsidiary of NNPC. Secondly, we are today demonstrating to the federal government of Nigeria that the Ogoni people will no longer work with Shell.
“Shell should not appeal that judgement because even if it is in their favour, we are not going to accept it. We are ready to work with NPDC, we are ready to work with the Federal Government”, Fabekee added.
In his remarks at the forum, the Managing Director of the Niger-Delta Power Development Company (NPDC), Engr. Mohammed Ali Zara, promised to work with the leadership of the group for the development of communities in Ogoniland in Rivers State.
Zara, who pointed out that the event was a clear demonstration of the strong and cordial relationship that had existed between the NPDC and the community over the years, said having listened to the presentations made by stakeholders in the community at the forum, the government truly understood Ogoni people’s concerns, yearnings and expectations.
Speaking on the environmental degradation and other socio-economic losses suffered by the people over the years, the NPDC boss promised that remedial projects would be implemented to restore piece, tranquility and progress for the good people of this community and Nigeria at large.
He explained: “On behalf of my colleagues, I wish to thank you immensely for the initiative. Indeed, this is a clear testimony and demonstration of a strong and cordial relationship that exist between us the years. This, for us is our social license to operate in this peace-loving community.
“No doubt, our confidence had been further boosted by this show of love and solidarity. We have listened to great statements made here today and in our last engagements and want to say that true, we understand your concerns, yearnings and expectations.
“Indeed, the damage done to the environment losses suffered over the years cannot be over-emphasized. We share in your pains, first and famous as Nigerians, and as your partner to restore peace, tranquility and progress for the good people of Ogoni community and Nigeria at large,’’ he said.
“As we have always maintained, it is in our collective national interest to urgently and speedily restore the needed normalcy that will create the enabling conditions for the accelerated socio-economic development that will give way for the remediation of the degraded and serially damaged environment to its natural state”, Zara assured.
It would be recalled that the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja had last week upturned the August 23, 2019 ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which held that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was entitled to the renewal of the Lease on OML 11.
In the ruling, the Appellate Court held that the Minister of Petroleum Resources has the discretion whether or not to renew the OML 11 Lease in favor of SPDC.
The court further held that “the minister rightly exercised his discretion in awarding the OML 11 Lease to NPDC.”
