Group Threatens To Sue SPDC, NNPCL Over 4 Km Secret Crude Pipeline Theft Controversy

The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) have been threatened with legal action after the group Oil Spill Victims Initiative (OSPIVV) following the 4 km long pipeline being used to siphon crude oil to rogue vessels on a platform on the high seas.

Speaking to reporters on Friday in Warri, Prince Harrison Jalla, the executive director of OSPIVV, said that the organisation had already given instructions to its lawyers to bring a lawsuit against Shell and NNPCL for the heist that has repeatedly crippled the nation’s economy.

He disclosed that the purpose of the legal action was to demonstrate the guilt of SPDC, NNPCL, and other international oil companies (IOCs) for the extensive oil theft that has been going on in the Niger Delta for years.

Prince Jalla noted that the lawsuit was designed to recover all funds associated with the illegal four-kilometer secret crude oil pipeline that was criminally dedicated to stealing Nigerian crude oil for the last nine years.

“There are numerous reports of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, but we are particularly interested in the theft of crude oil from the Forcados terminal. They have been stealing our national heritage for the past nine years, and no one can say for sure where it began or where it ended. We want to start by holding the NNPC and SPDC accountable for the oil theft and the atrocities committed against the Niger Delta people.

“We will take on the NNPCL and SPDC. We have already briefed our solicitors to file action. So many IOCs will be called to account for this heist, but we want to start with the Shell Group because there is no way crude oil could be piped from those terminals without the involvement of those running the terminal.

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“We don’t know if other areas where pipelines traverse the region are involved.” 

“We can now see there is a massive approach to stealing crude in the Niger Delta region. So we are going to court. The two organisations should let the court know what they know about the massive oil heists since 2003.

“If we have a court where everyone will give account of what they know, it is fair and good for us. We want to take them to a proper court of competent jurisdiction to unravel what’s happening in the truck lines.

“Our interest is to unravel what has been happening in the oil sector, so whether they claim it or not at Forcados Terminal is not our business.” Our concern is that a crime of massive oil theft has been committed and the resources have been pocketed by those we don’t know yet. The international community and IOCs are involved”.

Speaking in the vein, a consultant in environmental law, Hosanna Jalogho-Williams, said that apart from oil theft, the issue of environmental degradation and ecological effect of the oil heist to the inhabitants of the area, is one reason they have decided to go to court.

He stated that the theft of the oil in the years under review and any spills it may have caused are the issues that would be brought before the court to determine the value of the oil stolen over the years and the ecological impact of the theft itself.

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 We used to have blue water in the Niger Delta in the 1980s, but recently the colour of the water has changed, and we have a significant presence of water hyacinth, which is an indication of water pollution, according to him. The plant has no roots but feeds on the contaminated elements, so its widespread presence indicates that the water we are leaving in is polluted.