Nigeria, March 10 -- A federal court in Lagos Tuesday turned down an application to vacate an interim injunction it granted last month directing 20 Nigerian banks to block the accounts of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) and its subsidiaries.

Judge Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, in her ruling, also summoned three of the banks' secretaries and chief financial officers for allegedly disobeying the order made on February 17.

The affected banks and their officials include Citi Bank Ltd, its Company Secretary Sola Fagbure and Chief Financial Officer, Sharaf Mohammed; First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, its Company Secretary Irene Netimah and Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Iyamabo; and United Bank For Africa (UBA) Plc, its Company Secreta...