The Supreme Court has ordered Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to pay four communities in Delta State N30,288,681 compensation for damages caused by oil spills.
The communities namely Obotobo, Sokebolo, Ofogbene (Ezon Burutu) and Ekeremor Zion (Ezon Ase) had sued Shell separately in 1983 at the Bendel State High Court for compensation for series of oil spills recorded in the communities around that period.
The Bendel State High Court ordered Shell to pay N30,288,681 compensation in 1997, it awarded awarded N4,095,085 to Obotobo; N13,278,306 to Sokebolo; N7,392,589 to Ofogbene (Ezon Burutu) and N5,522,701.
Shell appealed the judgment at the Court of Appeal, Benin, an appeal the court dismissed on May 2000 for lacking in merit.
The Supreme Court upheld the concurrent decisions of the trial and lower court and awarded N500,00 cost against Shell and in favour of each of the communities.
Justice Kumai Bayang Akaahs who read the lead judgment said “The award is for the temporary loss of fishing right caused by the oil spillages. The second issue is resolved in favour of the respondents and against the appellants on the principle that the rights of common fishery in tidal waters is a public right both under the Common Law and Natural Law, and was not affected by Section 3 (10 ) of the Minerals Act, which was first enacted in 1916.
“There is a strong leaning against the construing of a statute so as to oust or restrict the jurisdiction of the superior courts. Where a cause of action accrued before the advent of an alteration of the law governing the same, the applicable law is the one which was in operation at the time when the cause of action accrued, unless the subsequent legislation manifestly and unambiguously provides that the altered laws takes retroactive effect.
“This being the case, since the state High court had jurisdiction to entertain admiralty cases begun in 1983, it was right to proceed with the trial leading to the judgment in 1995 after the promulgation of Decree No. 107 of 1993.
“The concurrent findings of fact made by the two courts are not perverse. I find that the appeal totally lacks merit. It was fought principally on the assumption that the Admiralty jurisdiction is exclusively vested on the Federal High Court, and the consolidated suits which were commenced in 1983 before the then Bendel State High Court ought to have abated after the promulgation of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Decree No. 59 of 1991, the Federal high Court (Amendment) Decree No. 60 of 1991 and 16 of 1992 and the Constitution (Suspension and Modification) Decree No. 107 of 1993.
“This appeal is therefore dismissed in its entirety and I award costs of N500,000 to each set of respondents in the consolidated suits against the appellant.”
Justice John Fabiyi, Clara Ogunbiyi, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and Chima Nweze, who were in the panel that heard the appeal also agreed with the lead judgment.
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