UK court probes Shell over Niger Delta pollution

A pivotal hearing into allegations that British oil giant Shell contaminated extensive areas of the Niger Delta in Nigeria, destroying the local environment and preventing access to drinking water, has begun at London’s High Court.

The UN has said that thousands of oil incidents have taken place in the region. According to United Nations Environment Programme, environmental damage can be seen through benzene being present in the contaminated water in western Ogoniland, RFI reported on February 13th.

“The pollution created by the oil giant has caused immense damage to the local environment, depriving thousands of people of access to clean drinking water,” said the NGO Amnesty International.

Shell argues that the spills were caused by criminals sabotaging pipelines or theft.

A Shell spokesperson said: “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.”

“While we are trying to focus the debate on environmental damage, talking about sabotage is just a way to avoid taking responsibility,” Isa Sanusi, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, told RFI’s Environment desk.

Shell’s lawyers stated in papers sent to court that SPDC acknowledges it is required to compensate those affected by oil spills, even if it is the case that SPDC is not at fault.

The lawyers added that they would not offer compensation in the cases where spills were malicious acts of third parties.

Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community in the Niger Delta, told Reuters that he was appealing to Shell’s conscience to remediate the damage.

A decade ago, Nigerian residents from the Bille and Ogale communities alleged that both their livelihoods and homes had been damaged by oil spills that were caused by Shell, Amnesty’s report said.

The report states living standards in the communities had been significantly lowered from the oil pollution, with permanent damage to farmlands, waterways, drinking water and cases of babies born with deformities.

The UN has reported that at least 7,000 oil spill incidents have happened in the region since 1958.

A 2011 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) study showed benzene – a carcinogen – was occurring at almost 900 times the WHO’s advised levels in polluted water in Ogoni.

“Shell repeatedly delayed the case, arguing it had no legal responsibility for any of the pollution. The delay has had a devastating effect on people’s lives,”  said Sanusi.

“As we speak, people are dying in Ogale, my community,” Okbapi said. “It is sad that Shell will now want to take us through this very expensive, very troublesome trial, claiming one technicality or the other.”

The month-long hearing will decide issues of Nigerian law and whether SPDC can be held legally responsible for oil spills caused by third-party interference.

There will be a further trial in 2026 with parts of the case starting almost a decade ago and having already been to the UK’s Supreme Court.  A 2021 ruling determined that the case should be brought to the English courts.

RFI, Reuters, Amnesty International