IWG hosts inaugural Environmental Justice and Climate Impact Litigation-Moot Competition in Yenagoa
On 26 March 2026, the International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta held the finals of the Environmental Justice and Climate Impact Litigation-Moot Competition at the Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa.
The competition brought together students from universities across Nigeria to debate issues of climate and environmental justice that are so pressing in Bayelsa State, as highlighted by the 2023 Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission report.
The competition raised awareness of the devastation caused by the oil industry in the Niger Delta. But it also sparked hope, by highlighting the opportunities available within national and international legal systems and giving confidence to young Nigerian lawyers to seek justice for the people of the Niger Delta and beyond.
As Professor Engobo Emeseh, founding IWG member, put it in her speech at the award dinner, “this was a devastation that was avoidable, but it is also remediable.” The IWG’s ambition is that this, and future, Moots will go some way to enabling Nigerians to seek that remedy and hold oil companies to account.
The IWG gives huge congratulations to the winners of the Moot, Imo State University Law Clinic, first runners up, the University of Benin, plus fellow finalists, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Federal University Wukari, Taraba State.
The IWG would like to thank Justice Elise Thompson of the Rivers State High Court for presiding over the competition; Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, Justice Matilda Ayemieye for attending and giving up her court to host the finals; and the Bayelsa State Government for their continued support.
Watch the video below for more details of the event!
The Moot was supported by a consortium of partners, including:
