The landlords of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State have threatened a $5billion lawsuit against the oil giant for allegedly divesting its assets without their notice contrary to their lease agreement.
The landlords under the umbrella of the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (BOGT) claimed that Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) had been threatened with a $5 billion lawsuit in the United Kingdom.
They want Shell to come up with its clean-up plans and exit plan before its departure, accusing Shell of environmental degradation after more than six decades of oil exploration had negatively impacted Bonny’s land and waters.
A few days ago, it was announced that Shell sold $2.4 billion asset to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, a development that BOGT faulted, citing a 1958 lease agreement that Shell had with Jumbo and Brown Chieftaincy Houses of Bonny Kingdom.
One of the landlords, Se-Alabo Clinton DanJumbo, who is the head of the Dan-Jumbo House of Bonny Kingdom, in a letter to Shell’s Chief Executive Officer, Wael Sawan, warned that the landlords would seek legal redress in the United Kingdom if Shell fails to meet its obligations to its landlords.
