Court Dismisses Aiteo’s Objection, N122bn Nembe Oil Spill Suit Proceeds
The Federal High Court in Yenagoa has dismissed a preliminary objection filed by Aiteo Group in the ₦122 billion oil spill suit instituted by the Opu Nembe Kingdom.
Delivering ruling on Tuesday, Justice Emmanuel Ayo held that the objection was predicated on a mere technicality concerning the description of the defendant’s corporate name, rather than the substantive issues of environmental damage raised by the plaintiffs. The court affirmed that technical defects cannot be allowed to defeat the ends of justice, particularly in matters of grave public interest.
The Opu Nembe Kingdom seeks declaratory reliefs and damages for alleged operational failures and negligence that led to massive oil spills affecting their community. Aiteo had urged the court to strike out the suit, contending that the plaintiffs misidentified the company as Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Ltd instead of its registered name, Aiteo Eastern E & P Company Ltd.
Justice Ayo noted that the plaintiffs had already filed a motion to regularise the defendant’s name, and adjourned the matter to April 16 for determination of that application.
The dispute stems from a major spill in November 2021 in Nembe, Bayelsa State, which the Nigerian Senate estimated at over two million barrels of hydrocarbon. While Aiteo rejected the Senate’s figures as exaggerated, the incident prompted regulatory directives suspending operations at the affected facility.
This ruling underscores the judiciary’s reluctance to allow procedural technicalities to obstruct substantive adjudication in environmental claims, and signals the court’s readiness to hear the merits of the ₦122 billion suit against Aiteo.
