Oil spill: Bayelsa drags Agip to court, demands N1.7 trillion 

Bayelsa State government has dragged Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Limited to a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt over an oil spillage from the company’s SBM Sirius, (offshore Brass) in Brass local government area of the state.

The government in an originating summons, filed by the Bayelsa State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Kemeasuode Wodu, and obtained by journalists, demanded N1.7 trillion compensation for general and exemplary damages from the spill which occurred on November 27, 2013.

The Bayelsa government in the suit is seeking an injunction restraining the defendant, its agents and or servants from further discharging onto or allowing petroleum (crude oil) to escape onto the waters of and around the said facility.

Another relief includes an order directing the defendant to provide portable drinking water for the communities in Bayelsa State impacted by the said Petroleum spillage from the said SBM Sirius (offshore Brass) operated by the defendant.

The plaintiff added that the defendant should be ordered to take all appropriate steps towards restoring the land, swamps, rivers and waters impacted by the spillage and pay compensation to all persons whose properties were destroyed.

While averring that the spillage contravened relevant sections of the constitution, the plaintiff asked the court to declare that the action of the defendant in allowing petroleum to escape from its facility was as a result of its operational error.