The divestment by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) may have been successful but lawsuits from their landlords in the oil region may ensue.
Already, Clinton Dan-Jumbo, one of their landlords in Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (BOGT), Rivers State, has written asking SPDC to call for a divestment negation as quickly as possible.
Should this request not be heeded, the letter which is said to have been received in the UK office of Shell, stated that a land lease agreement lawsuit may ensue.
Clinton Dan-Jumbo accused the oil giant of ‘illegally’ divesting its assets without the consent of its host communities. He has thus threatened a $5 billion lawsuit in the UK if the oil giant failed to address its obligations. The threat was also published in a credible Nigerian newspaper.
In a strongly worded letter to Shell’s CEO, Wael Sawan, Dan-Jumbo, who is the Chief and Head of the Dan-Jumbo House of Bonny Kingdom, condemned the company’s recent $2.4 billion asset sale to Renaissance Africa Energy Holdings.
The Dan-Jumbo Chieftaincy House, alongside the Jumbo Major House and John-Jumbo House make up the Jumbo Group of Houses, which are co-landlords with the Brown House, all of Bonny Kingdom, to SPDC.
The controversially divested asset is Shell’s BOGT which warehouses crude oil produced from different parts of the country and through which the Bonny Light Crude is exported to off-takers across the globe.
The Dan-Jumbo House chief argued that Shell’s divestment violated Clause 2.3 of the 1958 Bonny Terminal Agreement, which he said required the consent of the Jumbo and Brown houses before any transfer of land leases.
“It is obvious that you obtained the consent and approval of Nigeria’s oil minister, but did you obtain the consent of the Lessors – Jumbo House and Brown House of Bonny Kingdom before commencing and concluding the sale of your assets?” Dan-Jumbo questioned.
He further accused Shell of environmental degradation, stating that over six decades of oil exploration had rendered Bonny’s land and waters uninhabitable.
To remedy the alleged breach, Dan-Jumbo, who holds the title of Se-Alabo, demands that Shell immediately convene a meeting with Renaissance, the landlords, Jumbo and Brown Houses, Amanyanabo of Bonny Kingdom, and the Bonny Chiefs Council to renegotiate the 1958 lease agreement.
He also insists that Shell should publicly outline its environmental liabilities and clean-up plans before its departure.
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“The families did not foresee this sale when they leased the land to you in 1958. I believe that if they did, they may not have leased the land at the price they did,” he stated, adding that any exit plan must include a full environmental remediation strategy.
He further warned that failure to comply within 14 days would force the Bonny Kingdom to initiate legal proceedings in the UK, where Shell’s headquarter is located.
“Please be assured that we shall not hesitate to commence legal action against your esteemed company here in the United Kingdom. Should this matter go to court, we shall be demanding the sum of $5 billion to cover compensation and clean-up of our land,” he declared.
The letter was copied to global institutions and government agencies, including the United Nations, the British Parliament, Greenpeace, and the Nigerian government, signaling an escalation in the dispute.
Shell has yet to publicly respond to the allegations, though Se-Alabo Dan-Jumbo confirmed to this Reporter that the company has received the letter at its UK office.
More such threats and probable lawsuits may trail the divestment which has shaken the oil region.