Eight Rivers communities will receive compensation after Supreme Court dismisses an appeal by an oil company

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by NVT Power & Energy Ltd, an energy production and distribution firm, against a judgment rendered in favor of eight communities in Rivers State.

In a ruling, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun dismissed the appeal marked SC/CV/849/2022 filed against the June 7 ruling of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt.

The Supreme Court’s order dismissing the appeal filed on November 4 was in response to NVT Power’s request to withdraw the appeal.

However, the ruling’s certified true copy (CTC) was obtained yesterday in Abuja.

Opu-Benibo Granville community, Orubibi Douglas community, Blackduke Oweredaba community, Ajumogobia-Bestman community, Oruwari community, and Siri Young Jack community are among those involved.

Don-Pedro and Membere communities are also in Abonnema Kingdom, Akuku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers.

In October 2020, the host communities filed a lawsuit against the firm in the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt.

The communities asked the court to compel the firm to negotiate with them and “pay forthwith to their attorney/legal representative all agreed accruals, benefits, and compensation that are due to the claimants communities as a result of the defendant’s activities, operations, and facilities within the claimants communities’ lands.”

Later, the parties reached an agreement on settlement terms, which Justice A. Enebeli accepted as the court’s consent judgment in the case on June 2.

The terms of the settlement agreement was that the communities, “being independent, autonomous communities and the location of the defendant’s several facilities and activities, are entitled to participate and benefit directly from all accruals, rents, contracts, development and economic empowerment. They are also entitled to compensation, environmental cleanup, scholarships, and economic empowerment projects carried out by all companies, including the defendant, for their host communities in Abonnema Kingdom, Akuku Toru Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria.”

They were also to be “included in all agreements and or Global Memorandum of Understanding to be executed or entered into between the defendant and its host communities in Abonnema Kingdom in Akuku Toru local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria.”

The firm was ordered to negotiate with the communities through their lawyers “and pay forthwith to their attorney/legal representative all agreed accruals, benefits, and compensation that are due to the claimants communities as a result of the defendant’s activities, operations, and facilities on the claimants’ lands in Abonnema Kingdom, Akuku Toru Local Government, and Rivers State of Nigeria.”

Justice Enebeli later ordered NVT to pay N1 million to each of the eight communities as part of the consent judgment, which the firm challenged at the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt.

On June 7, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Port-Harcourt, led by Justice Joseph Ikyegh, ruled that NVT’s appeal was incompetent because it was filed without first seeking leave of the court.

NVT then appealed the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Supreme Court, which it later withdrew and which the apex court dismissed in its ruling.

Anabs Sara-Igbe, a Niger Delta activist and elder statesman, applauded the Supreme Court’s decision, saying the firm should respond quickly to environmental complaints and demands from host communities.

Sara-Igbe, a former Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) spokesman who also hails from the same local council as the affected communities in Akuku-Toru local council, added that the judgment is a relief to Niger Delta host communities, describing it as a good development that will encourage other marginalised communities to rise up and fight for their rights.

“When the Supreme Court issues a decision, it stands and is final. As a result, I believe that this verdict will inspire other communities in the region that have been treated unfairly to seek redress in court.

“The decision will also increase the pressure on companies to respond positively to environmental complaints and demands from host communities,” Sara-Igbe said.

Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, Executive Director of Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), welcomed the dismissal of the NVT Power and Energy Ltd’s appeal over a consent judgment it had already agreed to at the court of first instance.

“The character of these oil companies and their attitude toward their host communities are condemnable,” Fyneface said, adding that “there is nothing wrong with implementing all aspects of the judgment it entered with the communities through the out of court settlement and consent judgment.”

He questioned why the company did not maintain a positive relationship with its host communities, accusing it of attempting to emulate some multinational oil companies that did not treat their host communities well.

Fyneface congratulated the communities on their victory at the Supreme Court, and urged the firm to immediately implement the consent judgment entered into with the community, thereby strengthening its relationship with the communities and carrying on its lawful oil extraction business.