Appeal Court Nullifies Conviction Of Shell MD, Others

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt has set aside the
order of a High Court of Rivers State which sentenced the Managing
Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria
Limited (SPDC), Osagie Okunbor, and two other senior officers of
the company to three months in prison for contempt.

The appellate court gave the ruling on Wednesday, November 5,
following an appeal of the committal order filed by SPDC.

The High Court had on October 9, 2018, ordered Osagie; SPDC
Company Secretary, Nike Oyinlola; and the Managing Counsel for
Litigation, Sub-Sahara Africa, Keibi Atemie, to be committed to
prison for disobeying a 2008 judgement of the High Court to forfeit
the land on which the Bonny Oil Export Terminal is built.

But SPDC, in a statement after the committal order, said the
company had not disobeyed any court order and had appealed the
conviction. “We do not accept that SPDC has disobeyed any lawful
order of court and have accordingly appealed this judgement. SPDC
has utmost respect for the courts and the laws of Nigeria,” said
the SPDC statement.

The Bonny Oil Terminal on Bonny island in Rivers State is a
critical national asset in which the Federal Government holds 55
percent interest. The terminal receives crude oil from
international and local oil companies through the Trans Niger
Pipeline and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line for export.

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