Shell to stand trial for oil spills in Nigeria

The High Court in London has decided that thousands of Nigerians may sue British energy firm Shell over oil leaks.

More than 13,000 farmers and fishermen from the Nigerian settlements of Ogale and Bille filed lawsuits against the oil firm earlier this year, claiming that their constitutional right to a clean environment had been violated. They were seeking compensation.

“Leigh Day, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, stated on Thursday that if the case goes to trial, it will be the first time in legal history that a UK multinational has been found to have violated a communities’ right to a clean environment.”

“Notably, these claims are not subject to a statute of limitations, so Shell cannot avoid responsibility by arguing that the communities failed to file their claims in a timely manner,” the company continued.

Wednesday saw the release of the court’s decision in this eight-year-old case.

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“I am not going to strike out the claims,” the court judge declared in explaining the decision, citing “the catastrophically environmentally damaging oil pollution in the Niger Delta.”

Regarding oil leaks in Nigeria, Shell has refuted any responsibility.

Shell made the following claim in a statement that Bloomberg published: “Oil is being stolen in the Niger Delta on an industrial scale. The bulk of the spills in the Bille and Ogale claims are the result of this illegality, which is a significant source of pollution.

In February, Nigerian residents of the Ogale and Bille towns accused Shell of creating damaging spills. 11,317 individuals from Ogale, 17 organisations (such as churches and schools), and 2,335 individuals from Bille are requesting compensation from the oil company for the loss of revenue and environmental harm they have caused.

Since the 1990s, the British company has prevailed in multiple oil spill trials in Nigeria. After the UK Supreme Court determined that Nigerian claimants had exhausted their time to sue two of the British oil company’s subsidiaries over an offshore leak in 2011, Shell prevailed in a related lawsuit in May.