Council of Ethnic Youth Leaders of Nigeria has sued Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at the Federal High Court, Abuja, over alleged illicit crude oil deals.

The group alleged that the country lost huge revenue to “illicit activities of the company at Forcados and Bonny – the two crude oil export terminals Shell operates – from where it currently owes Nigeria about N5 trillion.”

The convener, Tochukwu Ohazurike, joined the Federal Government as the second defendant.In the originating summons by their lawyer, Chibuzor Ezeike, the youth leaders prayed the court to declare that the ownership and control of all hydrocarbon, including petroleum products, in the country were invested in the second defendant.

They were also seeking a declaration that based on the declining remittance of revenue from crude oil exploration by the first defendant from its two terminals, “the government has the right to take over the investment of the company” to curb loss of more revenue.

Alternatively, the plaintiff prayed for an order compelling the federal Government to regulate the operations of Shell with a view to curbing the economic sabotage of accruable revenue to the country from crude on export.No date has been fixed for hearing on the matter.