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A pivotal hearing is underway in the UK at London’s High Court as community leaders from the Niger Delta region take on oil giant Shell. The court action was initiated by the Ogale and Bille communities who have a combined population of around 50,000 people in the area of Ogoniland.
They say the oil spills caused by oil-producing activities in the region have caused immense environmental damage, destroyed the livelihoods of local communities and caused health problems. They want Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary SPDC to be held accountable.
According to the United Nations, at least 1.5 million tons of crude oil have been spilled since 1958 in more than 7,000 incidents in the Niger Delta region.
The trial began on February 13 and is expected to continue until March 10. It was over a decade ago that local communities brought their claims to UK courts. However, Shell delayed the case repeatedly, saying they had no legal responsibility for the pollution. Last December, however, the UK Court of Appeal said the case could go ahead.
The Niger Delta region is the country’s primary oil producing area.Image: next24online/NurPhoto/picture alliance
Local communities sick of suffering
The Ogale people are an indigenous group from Southeastern Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta area. Since 1993, the communities of this region have been demanding accountability and compensation from Shell for widespread contamination of their land, water and air.
Many people in the area rely on fishing and farming to earn a living. Oil spills have compromised this, making life a daily struggle. Accessingpotable water has become a challenge.
“I am not happy, I am suffering. I have to come under the blazing heat of the sun to fetch water,” Blessings James a resident of Ogale told DW. She said had it not been for the damage caused by pollution from oil spills, she would now have running water in her home.
Environmental experts also say residents are at risk of contracting waterborne diseases. “That is why we see the prevalence of cancer increasing. People are getting cancer younger, even children,” Bieye Briggs, a public health and environmental advocate, told DW.
Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community, says the powerful individuals benefiting from Shell’s operations in Nigeria, should consider the damage they have caused to his community.
“I want to tell them that money is blood money,” Okpabi told DW. Shell has been carrying out cleanup operations in oil-contaminated areas of Ogoniland for over years and maintains they are going well. However, a recent BBC investigation found the energy giant had ignored warnings that the multi-million dollar operation has been beset by issues from the start and brought little respite for the people of Ogoniland.
Nigeria communities sue Shell over oil pollution
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Shell should pay
Speaking outside the court house in London, Okpabi maintained that Shell must compensate for the damage.
“As we speak, people are dying in Ogale, my community,” he told Reuters. “It is sad that Shell will now want to take us through this very expensive, very troublesome trial, claiming one technicality or the other.”
Shell has however argued that most of the spills were caused by illegal third-party interference, such as pipeline sabotage and theft, which is rife in the Niger Delta.
Speaking to Reuters, a Shell spokesperson said that the litigation “does little to address the real problem in the Niger Delta: oil spills due to theft, illegal refining and sabotage, which cause the most environmental damage.”
In court filings, Shell’s lawyers said that SPDC recognizes it is obliged to compensate those harmed by oil spills even if the company is not at fault. However, it is not to required to compensate anyone if they have previously been compensated or if spills were caused by “the malicious acts of third parties.”
The current four-week hearing will determine whether according to Nigerian law, the oil giant can be held liable for oil spills caused by third-party interference. A further trial will be held in 2026.
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