A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has restrained four energy firms from continuing demolition of properties in Ntamoku Ayambo Pipeline Estate, Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.
In an ex parte order delivered on Friday, February 13, 2026, Justice Rita Oguguo, presiding over Suit No. BYHC/17/CS/2026, barred Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, WAGL Energy Limited and Kristal Polis Limited from taking further steps to demolish structures in the disputed estate pending the hearing and determination of a Motion on Notice.
The 45 claimants in the suit, residents of Ntamoku Ayambo Pipeline Estate, are suing on behalf of themselves, their families and other affected occupants of the community.
After hearing submissions by counsel to the claimants, Chief Eugene Odey, the court granted an interim injunction restraining the defendants and their agents from further demolition of the claimants’ landed properties situated at Shell Pipeline Community in Bonny.
“It is hereby ordered that an interim injunction be issued restraining the Defendants/Respondents or their agents from taking further steps in the demolition of the Claimants’ landed property… pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice,” the court held.
Justice Oguguo subsequently adjourned the matter to Tuesday, February 24, 2026, for hearing of the Motion on Notice.
The court also granted leave for the claimants to serve the writ of summons and other processes outside its jurisdiction, including through substituted means.
Specifically, the order permits service on NEPL in Benin City, Edo State, and on WAGL Energy Limited in Maitama, Abuja, as well as service on relevant respondents through courier delivery to their headquarters.
The ruling follows protests that erupted on February 10, 2026, when residents said they woke up to heavy-duty equipment demolishing structures in the estate. Officials of Kristal Polis Limited allegedly directed occupants to vacate their homes on or before February 13.
A survey plan sighted by reporters, registered as Plan No. ESP/3585 with the former Bonny/Degema Province, indicates that the pipeline in contention runs from the rear of Orupiri Community, crosses Admiralty Creek into Ogbokoro Ayambo, extends to Ayambo Main Community and terminates at Ntamoku Ayambo, where the demolitions were underway before the court’s intervention.
Community sources claim that the exercise had already displaced thousands of residents, including an estimated 5,000 children, 3,000 women, 1,000 elderly persons and other vulnerable groups such as persons living with disabilities and the unemployed.
With the interim order now in place, further demolition activities are suspended pending the court’s determination of the substantive issues raised in the suit.
