Shell appeals court’s order on MD, others

Shell Petroleum Development Company has appealed a Rivers State
High Court order sentencing its Managing Director, Mr. Osagie
Okunbor, and two others to three months imprisonment for contempt
of court.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the High Court on
Tuesday sentenced the company’s managing director, and two others
to prison with hard labour.

Reacting to the sentence, Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, who is the
Manager, Corporate Communications and External Relations of Shell
in a text message to NAN on Wednesday in Lagos decried the court’s
pronouncements.

According to Odugbesan, “We do not accept that SPDC has
disobeyed any lawful court order and we have accordingly appealed
this judgment. SPDC has utmost respect for the courts and the laws
of Nigeria.

“We have appealed against the order and applied to suspend its
execution pending the outcome of the appeal,” the SPDC spokesperson
told NAN.

Odugbesan explained that the said 2008 judgement was settled
between SPDC and the landlord families of the land in 2014.

“An amicable resolution and settlement agreement were signed by
the parties in 2014 after which SPDC paid all the rents due on the
land up to 2019,” he said.

He cited a paid public notice by the landlord families in the
October 24, 2014 edition of the Guardian Newspaper acknowledging
the settlement with SPDC.

He said that the Bonny Oil Terminal is a critical national asset
in which the Federal Government has 55 per cent interest.

“For this reason, SPDC has taken all lawful steps to protect its
officials and ensure uninterrupted operations at the terminal in
the interest of the nation.

“It receives crude oil from international and local oil
companies through the Trans Niger Pipeline and the Nembe Creek
Trunk Line for Export,’’ he said.

It would be recalled that some members of Bonny community in
Rivers had approached the court, presided over by Justice George
Omeriji, to commit the SPDC officials to prison for disobeying its
order of 2008.

The community wanted the court to direct the company to forfeit
the land where one of Nigeria’s biggest oil terminals, Bonny Oil
Terminal, was located.

(NAN)