Court Orders Shell to Pay Ijaws N194bnCourt Orders Shell to Pay Ijaws N194bn
Ibori: Why captives have not been released
From Eddy Odivwri in Warri, Mike Oduniyi in Lagos and John Iwori in Port Harcourt with agency reports, 02.24.2006
A new twist crept yesterday into the crisis in the Niger Delta after militants holding the nine expatriate hostages said that Shell Petroleum Develop-ment Company (SPDC) would need to obey an order by a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt to pay $1.5 billion (N193.5 billion) to the Ijaw Aborigines of Bayelsa State.
Justice Okechukwu Okeke had in his ruling yesterday, upheld a resolution by the National Assembly that Shell should pay the money to ethnic Ijaw communities in Bayelsa.
But oil giant, Shell in a swift reaction said it had appealed the judgment and insisted it was open to dialogue with the stakeholders in the region.
And in Warri, Governor James Ibori of Delta yesterday offered new insights into why the nine hostages abducted last weekend were yet to be released.
The Ijaw group had filed the suit to enforce a resolution passed by the Senate in 2004 directing Shell to pay $1.5 billion to Ijaw communities as compensation for environmental damages arising from the company’s operations.
The Senate had approved the fine in August 2004 after it was presented to the lower House of Representatives in 2003 and reviewed by an independent legal advisory panel set up by the lower house.
Communities have consistently accused Shell of allowing its oil to spill into the rivers and swamps of the Niger Delta, spoiling crops and driving fish away.
The court entered a judgment in favour of the Ijaw Aborigines, ruling that, since SPDC chose to participate in the National Assembly hearing, it had submitted to their jurisdiction and thus is bound by their resolution.
Shell had approached the court to determine whether the lawmakers had the right to order the company to pay the amount to the oil communities. The company decision to go to court was informed by its stand that the National Assembly pronouncement on the matter was not binding on it since it was not a court.
But delivering judgment in the case, Justice Okeke held that the National Assembly had the right to make a resolution on any matter of interest to the nation and its people.
Okeke contended that although the resolution passed by the National Assembly was not legal, it was borne out of a legal process meant to regulate the operations of the government and people of Nigeria.
But counsel to Shell and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation in the defunct Second Republic, Chief Richard Akinjide, disagreed with the judgment and served notice that the company would appeal against it.
However, counsel to the applicants, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, described the verdict as victory for the downtrodden people of Bayelsa, who had been waiting for years to get justice for the destruction of their environment and their means of livelihood.
Reacting to the judgement yesterday, the paramount ruler of Epie Kingdom in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa, Chief Malla Sasime, said that the oil giant was at liberty to appeal against the judgment.
The royal father, who is also lawyer, however maintained that Shell must first pay the money to the people, because as he put it: “our people cannot continue to wait endlessly for Shell to use the delay in our justice system to deny us justice.”
Sasime said that the company should consider leaving the community if it failed to pay the money after losing the case in court.
The plaintiffs led by former presidential aspirant, Chief Pere Ajua had dragged Shell to the National Assembly to pay them the amount for the devastation of their environment. The jubilation and celebration of the Ijaws on the judgment started at the court premises with victory songs and dances in their native tongue along the adjoining streets.
Passers-bye could not help but look at the spectacle. The celebration was more pronounced in areas dominated by the Ijaws in Rivers State, particularly the waterfronts were most them are engaged in fishing and petty trading.
But Shell in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday said it had appealed the ruling. “SPDC has appealed the judgment on, among other grounds, the strength of independent expert advice, which demonstrates that there is no evidence to support the claims of the group.”
“The management of SPDC remains committed to dialogue with all its stakeholders,” the company added.
The communities are, however, bracing up for a showdown with the oil company over the probability that payment of the said money would be delayed. An Ijaw community leader Ngo Nac-Eteli said that if Shell wanted to buy time by taking the case to the Appeal Court, the company would not be allowed to operate on Ijaw land until the case was settled. He did not elaborate on how the community would stop Shell's operations.
The recent spate of attacks forced Shell to shut in a fifth of its production as a precaution after the militants bombed the Forcados loading platform and sabotaged two pipelines belonging to the oil multinational and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
A spokesman for the Ijaw youths, Joseph Evah told THISDAY on phone from Port Harcourt that Shell payment of the compensation as ordered by the court, would play a key role in effecting the release of the nine hostages.
Another major demand in "softening" the hard line posture of the kidnappers is the release of warlord Asari Dokubo, who is currently being tried for treason.
“We want Shell to obey the court order as well as facilitate the release of Asari. These are fundamental issues in the peace process. They will be a key factor in the release of the hostages," Evah said.
The militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), in a statement Thursday threatened to launch more attacks on oil facilities and oil workers in the next few days, without warning.
Meanwhile, Governor Ibori has said that suspicion that the Federal Government may not keep its promise of abjuring the military attacks on the Ijaw communities may have stalled the early release of the nine hostages who have been held by the Niger Delta militants for a week now.
Governor Ibori, who is coordinating the negotiations for the release of the hostages, gave this hint yesterday in his third media briefing in Warri, since the oil workers were taken hostage last Saturday.
He explained that the captors were yet to be convinced that they would not be attacked again, after they may have released the expatriate oil workers.
“I suspect, I may not be right, that they are just holding on for as long as they can just to test the guarantee that we have given to them. I was the one that transmitted that guarantee to them. I got the mandate of Mr. President to tell them that they will not be attacked, not now, not after the hostages are released and I have done so. And I think they should believe me and believe Mr. President,” the governor said.
He noted that the MEND officials involved in the negotiation made a single demand for the release of the hostages – the assurance that the Federal Government will not attack them again.
He, however, ruled out monetary demands stressing that “these people (captors) are not just stupid, they also went to school and are very educated.
“I don’t think they have any other demand. They just want to be sure that they will not be attacked by the military after the negotiations and after the release of the expatriates,” Ibori stressed.
He expressed hope that with the cessation of fire since Sunday when the ceasefire promise was given, till “today (yesterday) and there has been no attack on the communities, the trust and confidence of the people are being regained, and hopefully, I am optimistic that we will come to a closure very soon.”
The Kerenkoko communities were bombarded by helicopter gunships February 15 and 17, by men of the Joint Task Force, the military outfit policing the creeks, on the allegation that there were ocean-going barges used for illegal bunkering in the said communities.
In response, the Niger Delta militia under the aegis of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) attacked the Forcados oil terminal, and abducted nine oil workers who are staff of Wilbros Nigeria services.
The delay in the release of the hostages may have also been caused by what Governor Ibori described as “extraneous issues,” which the captors may be introducing into the negotiation process. Although he was not specific, Ibori hinted that the negotiating team was being faced by certain demands that can hardly be met in the immediate circumstance. He gave the example of the demand for “tarring of roads,” noting “those are issues we can always discuss; but the primary goal for now should be the release of the hostages.”
He appealed that such “extraneous issues” have the possibility of being addressed but insisting on them at the moment will complicate the matter.
“Those who are helping in this (negotiation) should please try to understand that Mr. President has put a committee in place to effect the release of the hostages based on mutual understanding and dialogue and negotiation,” Ibori said.
However, THISDAY checks revealed that the negotiation suffered some set backs yesterday when the MEND team demanded to see the Chief of Defence Staff, the Inspector General of Police and other top brass of the military apparatchik.
The demand was said to have displeased top Delta state government officials.
“Do they mean they do not believe what we are telling them or what?” asked one exasperated official.
Earlier, Ibori who advised Nigerians to exercise “cautious optimism” in the release of the hostages informed that a Gbaramatu chief is at the head of the negotiation with the hostage takers, thus implying that all stakeholders in the matter are being carried along. The communities concerned are under the Gbaramatu kingdom of Delta state.
The Delta state Governor expressed confidence that having managed similar crisis in the state for six years, he was sure that in no distant time, the crisis will be resolved.
“ I have been here for six years as a principal actor in the Niger Delta, and so I should be able to know, what is what and who is who in this region,” he said.