A civic group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has dragged the President Muhammadu Buhari to court over his failure to commence prosecution of persons named in illegal pipeline operations and oil theft.
The group filed the action at the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja.
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SERAP’s suit followed recent revelations of at least 58 illegal oil pipelines used to steal the country’s oil wealth.
The stealing is reportedly carried out through illicit pipeline connected to the trunk line, via an abandoned pipeline, and linked to a location in the high sea, where crude oil is loaded into vessels and sold overseas.
In the suit filed by SERAP on Friday, the group is praying for an order directing and compelling the Buhari government to immediately probe reports of operations of illegal pipelines and oil theft, and name and prosecute suspected perpetrators.
SERAP is also praying the court to compel President Buhari to retrieve all proceeds of crimes in respect of human rights abuses of the Niger-Delta people where the oil is domiciled.
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In the suit, the plaintiffs are arguing that the Buhari government is failing to uphold its international legal obligations to ensure that the country’s oil wealth is used solely for the benefit of Nigerians, and that the wealth does not end up in private pockets. They also argue that poor and socio-economically vulnerable Nigerians have continued to pay the price for theft of the country’s oil wealth, apparently by both state and non-state actors.