Home » Posts tagged 'niger delta'
Tag Archives: niger delta
13 Years Is Too Long for Victims of Shell’s Oil Spills to Wait for Justice
13 Years Is Too Long for Victims of Shell’s Oil Spills to Wait for Justice
This case has beaten a path through the undergrowth for victims of corporate crimes. Now we need strong laws to make this avenue easier to access.
Donald Pols (R), director of Dutch environmental organization Milieudefensie, and Channa Samkalden (L), lawyer for Milieudefensie, react following the court ruling in the case that the organization, along with four Nigerian farmers, filed against Shell over oil leaks that have allegedly polluted their villages, in The Hague, on January 29, 2021. The Nigerian branch of Shell has to pay compensation to some farmers from the African country. The company has been found liable for two oil spills. The amount must be determined later, the court in The Hague ruled. (Photo: Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP via Getty Images)
Justice has finally prevailed for the people of the oil-soaked Niger Delta. On Friday 29th January, after a thirteen year struggle for redress for lives ruined by oil spills, three Nigerian farmers, supported by Milieudefensie/Friends of the Earth Netherlands, beat one of the world’s most powerful transnational corporations, Shell, in court in the Netherlands. Across Nigeria’s southern Delta region, people who have never heard of the Court of Appeal in the Hague celebrated with victory parties. But no victim should have to wait thirteen years for justice. Better laws are needed now to give victims quicker and more effective ways to win remedy.
The discovery of oil in the Niger Delta has brought untold suffering to its people. Shell was there from the start in the 1950s—and with it came oil spills and pollution…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Amnesty International: Shell’s Claim Of Clean Up In Nigeria “Blatantly False”
Amnesty International: Shell’s Claim Of Clean Up In Nigeria “Blatantly False”
A new report from Amnesty International alleges that Royal Dutch Shell did not, in fact, clean up its oil spills in Nigeria despite company claims that the task was completed.
Shell is the largest oil company to operate in the Niger Delta, with over 5,000 kilometers of pipeline and investments in over 50 oil fields. Shell’s pipelines have been responsible for 1,693 oil spills since 2007, but Amnesty International says the true number is likely much higher. Moreover, the non-profit alleges that Shell’s claims that it has cleaned up the oil spills are “blatantly false.”
Amnesty International also points the finger at the Nigerian government, which has failed to properly police the oil industry in the delta. “The quality of life of people living surrounded by oil fumes, oil encrusted soil and rivers awash with crude oil is appalling, and has been for decades,” said Stevyn Obodoekwe, the Director of Programmes for the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), which partnered with Amnesty International on the report.
Related: OPEC Infighting Reaching Critical Levels
The report concludes that four sites in the Niger Delta “remain visibly contaminated,” areas where Shell says cleanup was completed. “This is just a cover up. If you just dig down a few metres you find oil. We just excavated, then shifted the soil away, then covered it all up again,” a contractor hired by Shell told Amnesty International.
A 2011 investigation by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) documented the contamination at Shell’s sites, prompting a promise from the Anglo-Dutch oil major to follow through on cleanup.
Shell has sought to reduce its holdings of Nigerian oil assets over the past two years, part of a divestment campaign to cut costs and raise cash. The company has moved to sell off at least four oil fields, plus a major pipeline that plagued the company.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
