Nembe Kingdom slams Aiteo over appeal delay
Counsel to Opu Nembe Kingdom, Barrister Chigozie Inwere, has criticised Aiteo’s resort to what he described as technicalities and frivolous interlocutory appeals to delay justice in the kingdom’s over N122 billion oil pollution suit.
The Opu Nembe Kingdom in Nembe and Brass Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State is seeking legal redress over environmental damage allegedly caused by oil spills from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 in 2019 and 2020.
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Nathan Tamarapreye
Counsel to Opu Nembe Kingdom, Barrister Chigozie Inwere, has criticised Aiteo’s resort to what he described as technicalities and frivolous interlocutory appeals to delay justice in the kingdom’s over N122 billion oil pollution suit.
The Opu Nembe Kingdom in Nembe and Brass Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State is seeking legal redress over environmental damage allegedly caused by oil spills from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 in 2019 and 2020.
OML 29 is operated by Nembe Exploration and Production Ltd, formerly Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Ltd.
The dispute arose after the plaintiffs made a typographical error in the spelling of the oil firm’s name in the originating summons. Aiteo subsequently filed a preliminary objection, urging the Federal High Court in Yenagoa to dismiss the suit on that basis.
However, the trial judge dismissed the objection, ruling that a substantive environmental justice case could not be struck out over a mere typographical error. The court also granted the plaintiffs’ application to correct the mistake.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Aiteo filed an interlocutory appeal at the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal, challenging the lower court’s decision.
Reacting to the appeal, Inwere, who represented lead counsel Iniruo Wills, described the move as another phase in the kingdom’s struggle for justice and warned against allowing procedural contests to overshadow the substantive environmental issues.
He said communities in the affected areas had endured years of pollution, loss of livelihoods and delayed justice due to what he termed repeated attempts to evade accountability.
“These repeated incidents show a pattern of evading operational failure and environmental neglect. Communities have suffered years of pollution, loss of livelihoods, and delayed justice. The courts must ensure that substance prevails over technical delays, and that accountability is finally achieved,” he said.
Inwere noted that the trial court had already affirmed that claims relating to environmental justice and alleged oil pollution could not be defeated by technical irregularities.
He explained that the preliminary objection matter is now before the Court of Appeal as Aiteo seeks to overturn the lower court’s ruling and potentially stall further proceedings in the substantive case.
Meanwhile, the main suit remains before the Federal High Court in Yenagoa and is scheduled for hearing on 15 June 2026.
