Four Nigerian farmers and fishermen, who sued Shell for damages from pipeline leaks, have all died during their 13-year-long legal battle, but a Dutch appeals court has finally ruled in their favour and awarded their families and affected communities a compensation of €15m ($15.9m).
The case was first filed in 2008 by four farmers – Baariza Dooh, Elder Akpan, Fidelis Oguru and Alai Efanga – and Milieudefensie, the Dutch division of Friends of the Earth International. The Hague Court of Appeal ruled in 2021 that Shell’s Nigeria subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), was liable for pollution caused from four oil pipeline leaks in the Niger Delta.
The settlement will go toward the affected Ikot Ada Udo, Oruma and Goi communities, as well as the families of the now-deceased farmers. The court also asked Shell that it must install new pipeline equipment to prevent further devastating spills. This includes the installation of a leak detection system on 20 pipeline segments.
Eric Dooh, the son of Chief Barizaa Dooh, was quoted by ABC News as saying: “Thanks to this compensation we can build up our community once again. We can start to re-invest in our living environment. It is a great relief to all of us that after the years of legal battle with Shell, we will soon be recipients of this money as compensation for all we have lost.”
In a statement, Donald Pols, Milieudefensie’s director, added: “If we look at the court case as a whole, the major gain is that a new standard has been set. Companies will no longer be able to get away with pollution and ignoring human rights.”
“Under the settlement, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, as operator of the SPDC joint venture, will pay an amount of €15m for the benefit of the communities and the individual claimants,” SPDC said in a released statement.
The oil firm said the agreement “is on a no admission of liability basis, and settles all claims and ends all pending litigation related to the spills”.
The four Nigerians sued Shell in the Netherlands to pay for cleaning up spills from its pipelines in the Niger river delta, which is a major oil-producing region and one of the most polluted places on earth.
ABC News, quoting Nigeria’s National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, said there have been 246,000 litres of oil spilled in just the first three months of 2022, and 75 percent are attributed to theft and sabotage through organised crime and militants.
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