Shell’s legal woes over Nigeria’s oil
Environmental cases:
News and information on Shell Plc
Shell’s legal woes over Nigeria’s oil
Environmental cases:
Nigeria protests target Shell in UK, Netherlands
Activists have mounted demonstrations at Shell’s headquarters in London and The Hague, in protest over the killings of the Ogoni 9 in Nigeria, 25 years ago.
By Ed Reed: 10 November 2020Eight activists from Extinction Rebellion Rotterdam climbed a Shell storage tank in Pernis. A spokesman for the group, Marjolein: “Although Shell is obliged to clean up the oil, they appear to be failing to deliver on their promises as always. That is why today we protest at one of Europe’s largest oil refineries: to show that Shell cannot get away with this and to encourage the people in the Ogoni area. ”
OGONI REMEMBERS KEN SARO WIWA’S MURDER 25 YEARS LATER AND RENEWS DEMAND FOR AUTONOMY
November 10, 2020
KorneBari Nwike
On November 10, 2020, the Ogoni people, in the homeland and in the diaspora, are poised to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the judicial murder of Ken Saro Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders with renewed calls for Ogoni autonomy. Twenty-five years ago, on November 10, 1995, Gen. Sani Abacha, bolstered by the Justice Ibrahim Auta tribunal and Shell Oil Company, impulsively murdered Ken Saro Wiwa, one of Africa’s finest and eight other Ogoni leaders for demanding Ogoni political autonomy within Nigeria. Ken Saro Wiwa was an acclaimed writer and Africa’s foremost environmentalist who lead the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
Nigerian farmers take on Shell in landmark oil spill case
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell faces a case over 3 spills which occurred in the 2000s around the southeastern Nigerian villages of Goi, Oruma, and Ikot Ada Udo
Lawyers for 4 Nigerian farmers accused Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Thursday, October 8, of causing widespread pollution in a landmark court case filed in the Netherlands.
The farmers first filed suit in 2008, demanding Shell clean up devastating oil spills in 3 villages in the Niger Delta, prevent further pollution, and pay compensation.
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Press release 7th September 2020
Ken Saro Wiwa Resurrection: Spirit of the Ogoni
November the 10th 2020 is the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the execution of the environmentalist, author Ken Saro Wiwa and 8 others who became known as the Ogoni 9.
More than 25 years ago Filmmaker Nathan Achim Sheppard filmed and conducted an in-depth interview at Ken’s home in London about his life, work and struggle.
18 JUNE 2020
Nearly 10 years after a clean-up was urged for areas polluted by Shell and other oil companies in the Niger Delta, work has begun on only 11% of planned sites while vast areas remain heavily contaminated, according to a new investigation by four NGOs.
In 2011 the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report documenting the devastating impact of the oil industry in Ogoniland, and set out urgent recommendations for clean-up. But the new investigation highlights that “emergency measures” proposed by UNEP have not been properly implemented and that the billion-dollar clean-up project launched by the Nigerian government in 2016 has been ineffective.
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These cases are important for what they mean for the individuals and communities involved. They could also set important precedents on the responsibility of companies for their overseas operations, which would open the way for further litigation not only against Shell but other multinational corporations as well.
They are also placing a much-needed spotlight on Shell’s business model in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s regulation of the oil industry is undoubtedly weak and lacks independence. Government agencies responsible for industry regulation and enforcement are under-resourced, ineffective and in some cases compromised by conflicts of interest. Its own courts have failed to offer the victims of human rights abuses a meaningful avenue for seeking justice for the oil spills that have blighted the Niger Delta and the lives and livelihoods of its communities. Shell has thus avoided being held effectively to account in Nigeria.
The first of the pollution-related cases marked the first time that any Dutch company had been sued in the Dutch court for the operations of its subsidiaries overseas.
In 2008, four Nigerian farmers (Eric Barizaa Dooh, Fidelis Ayoro Oguru, Alali Efanga and Friday Alfred Akpan), along with Milieudefensie, the Dutch section of Friends of the Earth, filed claims against RDS and SPDC.44
They are seeking to obtain compensation for alleged damage to fish ponds and land caused by oil spills from two underground pipelines and an oil well operated by Shell in the villages of Goi, Ikot Ada Udo and Oruma between 2004 and 2007.45
There are three separate legal proceedings taking place against Shell in Dutch and British courts relating to oil pollution. This has devastated the Niger Delta.
Data from Shell’s own spill incident reports reveal that from 2011-18 the company reported a huge number of spills – 1,010 – along the network of pipelines and wells that it operates.25 Spills have a variety of causes – from third-party tampering, to operational faults and corrosion of aged facilities. Shell blames most spills on theft and pipeline sabotage, and are not due to its own negligence.26
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) says all the Ogoni people want in Nigeria is respect for the rights of the people and justice. President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke made this known yesterday in Port Harcourt in a speech to mark the 24th anniversary of the U.N Secretary General’s fact-finding mission to Ogoni which noted that the Special Tribunal which ordered the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa had no jurisdiction to try Saro-Wiwa and the others.
Nsuke said it was shameful that Nigeria’s response to a simple and justifiable demand for basic rights and justice by the Ogoni people in Nigeria was repression by state security forces and the hounding by Shell through its agents which led to the death of thousands of innocent Ogonis.