The Federal High Court sitting in Uyo has dismissed a representative suit seeking ₦54 billion in damages against Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (now SEPNU), holding that the action was statute-barred.
The suit was instituted by representatives of Barracks, Nditia, and Okposo 2 communities over an alleged oil spill that occurred in 2014. The plaintiffs had urged the court to treat the environmental damage arising from the spill as a “continuing injury” in a bid to circumvent the limitation period.
However, the court rejected the argument and held that the claim could not be revived, as the alleged wrongful act was a one-off घटना completed in 2014.
Central to the case was the legal distinction between “continuing injury” and the “continuing effect” of an injury. Counsel to the defendant, Ms Abasiemediong Etuk, argued that for an injury to qualify as continuing, there must be a repetition or recurrence of the wrongful act itself.
She maintained that in the instant case, the alleged oil spill was a single completed act, and that any lingering environmental damage only amounted to the continuing effect of that act, which does not extend or reset the limitation period.
“While the effects of the spill might persist, the cause of action remains fixed to the date the spill occurred,” she submitted.
In its ruling, the court agreed with the defence and held that the plaintiffs’ attempt to characterise the claim as a continuing injury was misconceived. The judge found that the spill, as alleged, was not a continuous occurrence but a completed act with residual consequences.
The court therefore held that the limitation period began to run from 2014, making the suit filed in 2026 statute-barred.
The decision reinforces the principle that the duration of the consequences of an act does not determine the accrual of a cause of action, and that claims must be instituted within the time prescribed by law.
