Shell is going to be sued in the UK for persistently polluting the Niger Delta with oil.
The high court has ruled that over 13,000 Nigerian peasants have the right to file lawsuits against oil companies.
The London High Court decided that thousands of Nigerian villagers can file human rights claims against the fossil fuel giant Shell for persistently contaminating their water supplies with oil and destroying their way of life.
Last Monday, Mrs. Justice May made the decision that over 13,000 farmers and fishers from the Niger Delta’s Ogale and Bille communities could file a lawsuit against Shell for allegedly violating their right to a clean environment.
The judge decided that it was debatable whether the pollution had seriously violated the villagers’ rights to a clean environment under the human and people’s rights charter of Africa and the Nigerian constitution. These rights do not have a statute of limitations on claims.
In accordance with applicable Nigerian legislation, Shell said its Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), acknowledged liability for the spills it caused and made payments to the impacted parties. It also claimed to clean up any leaks from its assets, no matter what caused them. Shell Plc disputes that it has a direct duty of care to the plaintiffs.
In reaction to the ruling, Shell stated that although the court had mandated that the claimants identify the specific spill or spills that are alleged to have caused the damage, they had not done so.
In an eight-year campaign to force Shell to accept responsibility for the oil pollution that has ruined their land, the Ogale and Bille communities have fought for this right. Matthew Renshaw, the international team partner at Leigh Day, which is representing the villagers, said that this verdict is key.
“Throughout this period, Shell has consistently turned to technicalities in an attempt to obstruct and postpone our clients’ claims. Shell would no longer be able to argue that it has no responsibility for the contamination because it happened more than five years ago under Nigerian constitutional law.
move without further delay towards a trial, where our clients’ claims for a full cleanup and compensation for the destruction of their way of life can be fully heard.”
Three years ago the supreme court unanimously ruled that “there is a good arguable case” that Shell plc (the UK-based parent company) is legally responsible for the pollution caused by its Nigerian subsidiary.
A Shell spokesperson said of the latest judgment: “We strongly believe in the merits of our case. Oil is being stolen on an industrial scale in the Niger delta. This criminality is a major source of pollution and is the cause of the majority of spills in the Bille and Ogale claims.
“Irrespective of cause, SPDC cleans up and remediates areas affected by spills from its facilities or pipeline network, working closely with regulators, local communities and other stakeholders. We believe litigation does little to address the real problem in the Niger delta: oil spills due to theft, illegal refining and sabotage, with which SPDC is constantly faced and which cause the most environmental damage.”
“Shell has no plans to leave Nigeria,” a spokesman stated. As previously mentioned, Shell intends to maintain its deepwater and integrated gas positions in Nigeria while reducing its engagement in onshore oil production.
The ruling last week means the claimants will now prepare for a trial. A hearing will take place on 12 and 13 December for more legal arguments.
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