Godwin Tsa, Abuja

 

Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Ltd has been dragged before the Abuja division of the Federal High Court over alleged non remittance and under declaration of crude oil sales to the Federal government to the tune of N5 trillion.

 

In the suit filed by an environmental activist and legal practitioner, Anderson Achilike, the petroleum giant was equally accused of under declaration of crude oil exportation and shipment, instigation of acts of pipeline vandalism, oil theft, third- party interference in the trunk line operations and incessant cases of fire outbreak.

 

Other defendants in the suit filed on Wednesday are the Attorney General of the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as the 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.

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The plaintiff said he filed the action “as a matter of urgent national importance to save the dwindling economic fortunes of the country from acts capable of undermining the future of Nigeria.”

He, therefore, asked the court to issue “an order directing and compelling the 3rd defendant as a designated financial intelligence unit in Nigeria, acting with or through the 2nd defendant and/or other security agencies, to carry out an investigation of the 1st defendant over cases of non-remittance and under-declaration of crude oil exportation and shipment, third party interference in its trunk line operations, incessant cases of fire outbreak, repeated incidents of sabotage or other suspicious activities or occurrences at its Forcados and Bonny Oil Terminals and Bonga FSPO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessel, which has resulted in the loss of revenue, continuous oil theft, monumental shortfall in crude oil production, poor economic revenue, pipeline vandalism, disruption of oil production, destruction of oil installation, economic sabotage, etc in Nigeria.

“An order directing and compelling the EFCC to carry out a quantitative investigation of the amount or quantity of crude oil coming into or supplied to and exported from the Shell’s Forcados and Bonny Oil terminals and Bonga FSPO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessel as well as the amount or quantity of crude oil, claimed to have been or supposed to have been, exported from the said terminals from 1st January 2001 to 31st August 2019.

Among other reliefs, the plaintiff wants a declaration that the act or conduct of Shell in not remitting and under-declaring of crude oil exportation and shipment. instigating criminal acts of pipeline vandalism, oil theft, third party interference in trunk-line operations, incessant cases of the outbreak, repeated incidents of sabotage or other suspicious activities or occurrences as well as being the coven of stealing of Nigeria’s crude oil as a result thereof by Shell from its Forcados and Bonny Oil terminals and Bonga FSPO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessel is illegal, unlawful and constitutes economic sabotage and crime against the Nigerian state.

The plaintiff is also praying for “a declaration that the EFCC being a designated financial intelligence unit in Nigeria, acting with or through the AGF and/or other security agencies, has the burden of statutory duty to investigate various acts and/or allegations of commission of economic crimes by Shell against the Federal government of Nigeria through its non-remittance and under-declaration of crude oil exportation and shipment, various acts of self-induced oil theft, pipeline vandalism, disruption of oil production, destruction of oil installation and economic sabotage etc.

The matter is yet to be assigned a date.