An influential traditional chief in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta on Friday demanded that Shell pay US$12 billion ($20.12b) for environmental pollution before it leaves the region. 

Bubaraye Dakolo of the Ekpetiama Kingdom appeared before a federal high court in the southern city of Yenagoa 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. 

UK energy giant Shell is one of the companies accused for decades of causing serious environmental degradation across Nigeria’s southern oil- and gas-rich region. 

The monarch’s legal challenge was prompted by Shell’s recent divestment of US$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”. 

According to Dakolo, 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 July 22. 

Alongside Shell, the suit named Nigeria’s petroleum and justice ministers and a Nigerian upstream petroleum regulatory agency as defendants. 

The suit seeks to halt the transfer of Shell’s assets pending an agreement on money for environmental clean-up, decommissioning of obsolete infrastructure and community compensation. 

“Shell wants to leave behind a mess that has ruined our rivers, farmlands, and livelihoods,” Dakolo said in the statement. 

“We will not accept abandonment.” 

Isaac Asume Osuoka, the director of Social Action Nigeria, one of the parties to the lawsuit, told AFP that “Shell wants to exit with profit, leaving behind toxic air, poisoned water, and broken communities”. 

Shell did not immediately comment. 

Oil companies generally say they operate according to the sector’s environmental best practices and blame most spills on sabotage and oil thieves tapping into pipelines. 

Nigeria, Africa’s leading oil producer, wants to attract more foreign investment since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to office in 2023 with a raft of reforms. 

- Agence France-Presse