The struggle continues: Please show compassion for the widows of the Ogoni 9

JANUARY 16, 2023 BY ANDY ROWELL BLOG POST

Extracts

When the Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was murdered in 1995 along with eight other colleagues, his reported final words were: “Lord take my soul, but the struggle continues”.

Saro-Wiwa and the others had been campaigning against Shell’s ecological destruction of Ogoniland. Thirty years ago this month, on January 4 1995, some 300,000 Ogoni, some sixty per cent of the population, peacefully protested against the oil giant’s activities. At the time, it was the largest mobilisation against an oil company worldwide. read more

SHELL COMMENTS ON THE VERDICT FROM THE MILAN TRIBUNAL OVER OPL-245

Mar 17, 2021

Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“RDS” or the “Company”), today made the following statement after the Milan Tribunal acquitted the company of charges related to Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 in Nigeria:

“We welcome today’s decision by the Milan Tribunal. We have always maintained that the 2011 settlement was legal, designed to resolve a decade-long legal dispute and unlock development of the OPL 245 block. At the same time, this has been a difficult learning experience for us. Shell is a company that operates with integrity and we work hard every day to ensure our actions not only follow the letter and spirit of the law, but also live up to society’s wider expectations of us.” read more

Shell comments on dismissal of Dutch investigation into OPL 245

Jul 21, 2022

Shell plc (“Shell”) today made the following statement after the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s office announced it had dismissed its investigation into bribery allegations related to Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 in Nigeria.

“We welcome today’s decision, which marks an end to the criminal investigation in The Netherlands. It follows the Milan Public Prosecutor’s appeal withdrawal earlier this week, which ended all criminal proceedings and confirmed the Milan Tribunal’s decision to acquit Shell and four of our former employees in March 2021. read more

Bloomberg

Nigeria to Continue $3.5 Billion Claim Against Eni And Shell

William Clowes and Alberto Brambilla: Tue, July 19, 2022, 5:37 PM

(Bloomberg) — Nigeria will continue its $3.5 billion civil claim against Shell Plc and Eni SpA after Italian prosecutors dropped criminal proceedings against the companies, a lawyer representing Africa’s largest crude producer said.

The West African country, which joined the case as a civil party in 2018, still plans to appeal the March 2021 ruling by a court in Milan acquitting the energy giants and several of their current and former executives of corruption charges, Olabode Johnson, a lawyer for the Nigerian government, said by phone. read more

REUTERS

JPMorgan wins London oil trial in which Nigeria sought $1.7 bln

By Sinead Cruise and Estelle Shirbon: June 14, 2022

LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) has won a London High Court battle against Nigeria, which was seeking $1.7 billion in damages over the U.S. bank’s role in a disputed 2011 oilfield deal.

JPMorgan said the judgment reflected its commitment to acting with high professional standards everywhere it operates, while Nigeria said it was disappointed and would review the judgment carefully before considering its next steps. read more

The Telegraph

JP Morgan accused of negligence over corrupt $1.3bn Nigerian oil deal

By Mark Hollingsworth: 20 February 2022 

The case revolves around $876m of missing money from an oil field sale in 2011

JP Morgan negligently allowed corrupt Nigerian officials to siphon off more than three quarters of a $1.3bn oil investment to a former oil minister’s company and assorted middlemen, the High Court will hear this week.

The world’s largest bank is being sued by the Nigerian state for allegedly allowing corrupt former state officials to extract $875m between 2011 and 2013 from a government account opened with JP Morgan in London. read more

The Guardian/ The Observer

Oil and gas firms have unlisted links to Westminster

Shanti Das: Sun 20 Feb 2022 

Lobbyists representing fossil fuel giants are quietly helping run parliamentary groups on energy and climate policy without the need to formally declare their involvement.

The trade associations, which are funded by oil and gas producers including Shell, BP and ExxonMobil, provide administrative and public relations support to groups of MPs.

Their roles are not included in official parliamentary transparency logs because of rules that say only benefits in kind above £1,500 a year must be recorded – a threshold the trade bodies say they do not meet. read more

Royal Dutch Shell: How Nigeria’s Ex-Attorney General Bayo Ojo Received $10 Million From Malabu Largesse

10/05/2021 | 03:07am EDT

Christopher Bayo Ojo, who between June 2005 and May 2007 was Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, received $10.026 million the infamous Malabu OPL 245 share-outs, a payment investigators said was a “bribe” for his earlier controversial decision to reassign the lucrative oil block to Dan Etete, Nigeria’s former petroleum minister. read more

Fresh Trouble, Panic hits Shell Hqrs as Oil Giant, AITEO launches $2.5b lawsuit against Shell over the sale of OML 29  with fraud and misrepresentations  read more

Royal Dutch Shell: How Nigeria’s Ex-Attorney General Bayo Ojo Received $10 Million From Malabu Largesse

Extracts from an article published by Premium Times on 5 October 2021

Christopher Bayo Ojo, who between June 2005 and May 2007 was Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, received $10.026 million from the infamous Malabu OPL 245 share-outs, a payment investigators said was a “bribe” for his earlier controversial decision to reassign the lucrative oil block to Dan Etete, Nigeria’s former petroleum minister. read more

Image Credit: KICKBACK NEWS

By John Donovan

KickBack.news, the anti-corruption website recently founded by Javier Ferrandis has published a remarkable article under the headline:

DONOVAN vs. SHELL: A 30 Years Epic battle against a corporate giant.

Extract

Disgruntled employees, interested in learning about or airing the dirty laundry of the Shell Group, or journalists, who want to find out what’s up at one of the largest corporations in the world, know that you have to start your search by simply typing royaldutchshellplc.com on your browser. read more

REVEALED: How Embattled Ex-Attorney General, Adoke Sought To Transfer Over $1billion From Nigerian Government Account After Leaving Office

BY SAHARA REPORTERS,

NEW YORK SEP 28, 2021

An internal email exchange between anti-money laundering officers at JP Morgan Chase (JPMC) bank records that a former Nigerian Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke sought to transfer over $1 billion from government account, after he had left office.

 The information showed that “Mr Adoke”, described in the email as “the former Nigerian Minister of Justice and Attorney General”, sought to transfer $1,092,015,000 from a Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) account, held with the London branch of JPMC, even though he was not a Minister at the time, an Italian newspaper, IRPIMEDIA reports. read more

REUTERS

Acquittal of Eni and Shell in Nigeria case faces legal challenge

MILAN, July 29 (Reuters) – Italian prosecutors and the Nigerian government have appealed the acquittal of Eni (ENI.MI) and Shell (RDSa.L), as well as a series of past and present managers, in a Nigerian corruption case, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Shell’s failed blundering attempt to kill my royaldutchshell.website

By John Donovan (last updated 5 Sept 2021)

Last week, a CYBERSECURITY INTELLIGENCE outfit acting for Shell issued a 5-day ultimatum on behalf of Shell to the company hosting my royaldutchshell.website.

I would not have had a clue about the ultimatum letter if the hosting company had not tipped me off about what was going on behind my back at Shell’s direction.

For 26 years, I have used the Internet as a medium to criticise and expose Shell’s unscrupulous dishonest activities, including, for example, the Shell securities fraud that ruined Shell’s reputation. read more

EMAIL ABOUT OIL SECTOR CORRUCTION IN NIGERIA SENT TO SHELL CEO MR BEN VAN BEURDEN, 25 JUNE 2021

-By Zik Gbemre  

WITH THE LEVEL OF CORRUPTION STILL PERVADING THE OIL SECTOR, NIGERIAN POLITICIANS HAVE STILL NOT LEARNT THE VANITY OF MATERIAL POSSESSION – THE NEED FOR THEM TO HAVE A RETHINK, AND FOR ANTI-GRAFT AGENCIES TO TAKE ACTION  

• The mind-boggling allegation of high-profile corruption in the sale of 57 marginal fields involving the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva; Buhari’s nephew, Mamman Daura; Sarki Auwalu; Sabiu Yusuf (aka Tunde); Sarki Abba and others, should be thoroughly investigated by anti-graft agencies… 
• It is sad how many people have made that piece of paper called money, to become their masters, and they the slaves of it… 
• The sacred values like hard work, diligence, honesty and integrity that once held our society together, have all been replaced… Leaving our societies decaying daily without us even realizing it… 

For as long as I can remember, the subject of high-profile corruption amongst Nigeria’s political class, is one that has continued to get worse, despite all the so-called fight against corruption by the past and present Governments. And it is one problem that has continued to deprive the majority of the Nigerian populace from having access to the dividends of democracy, and has kept the nation perpetually underdeveloped, while those in the political space have continued to feed fat to the detriment of all. read more

REUTERS

Italy orders inquiry into Eni-Shell Nigeria corruption prosecutors

June 15, 20212:26 PM BST

MILAN, June 15 (Reuters) – Italy’s justice ministry ordered an inquiry on Tuesday into the conduct of two prosecutors in a corruption case involving energy groups Eni (ENI.MI) and Shell (RDSa.L) in Nigeria.

Milan’s top prosecutor said last week that he backed the two men, after a trial lasting more than three years.

Reporting by Emilio Parodi; Writing by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Alexander Smith read more