Court Awards N4bn Damages To Imo Communities

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has awarded N4 billion as damages against Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in favour of two communities in Imo State for a crude oil spill that occurred in 1997.

A SPDC pipeline which ruptured along the Egbema-Assa delivery line, had large volume of crude oil beneath the surface until the oil became saturated, and with rising water levels, oil was carried to the surface, destroying swamps, streams, forest of Umuediko, Alimiri Umudike, Okpe Agah, Ukpazizi Ekpe Mbede and Etekuru communities in Imo State.

Based on this, the communiies  led by Chief Sylvester Onyema Esiegwu (Eze-Ali Umuedlike Egbema), II other chiefs on behlf of the communities, through their counsel, Mr. Lucius Nwosu (SAN) filed a suit No. FHC/PH/CS/159/2002, to demand special damages in the sum of N5,408,000.000 as compensation for immediate direct losses to their means of livelihood as assessed by their expert chartered valuation surveyors and itemised their report.

Before the suit, a N900 million ex-gratia was made by SPDC to the communities, for which they were compelled to sign an undertaking that the full and final settlement for the oil spill had been made.

Justice Gladys Olotu in her judgment, observed that the documents presented by Shell in relation to the agreement, appears erroneously convincing but stressed that by doing so, the course of justice will not be served.

And based on the fact that the word ex-gratia means favour and not right, Justice Olotu said the agreement with the communities cannot act as a estoppel on their rights to claim adequate compensation.

While looking at the claims for the sum of N5.4 billion in special damages as compensation for the immediate direct losses to their means of livelihood as assessed by their experts, chartered valuation surveyours, the judge declined to grant this based that the plantiffs as required by law.

Instead, Justice Olotu ordered Shell to pay the sum of N4 billion as general damages for the indirect  economic losses and negative environmental impact the communities suffered, including loss of objects of reverence, totems, historical land marks, quality and associated fear and forced refugee status.

The court also granted the plaintiffs requested remediate of the communities environment to pre-impact status. In addition, a perpetual injunction restraining Shell from causing such pollution in the future was slammed on the company.

Shell had in a bid to determine the cause of the spill which occurred on April 29, 1997, constituted a tripartite investigation team made up of II persons, five of whom were its staff, one from the department of Petroleum Resources, as well four persons from the communities.

In a report which Shell tendered in court as Exhibit 5, it was noted that the spillage incident was as a result of an external corrosion on the pipeline. In course of the trial, Shell presented an amended statement of defence, alleging that the spill was caused by sabotage.

But Nwosu had argued that a graphic examination of their point of rupture and the depth of the pipeline (buried seven metres) will show the impossibility of a saboteur accessing the point to rupture the hole standing atop the buried pipeline from the earth’s surface above.