The Nigeria Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Shell should be granted a hearing over its alleged involvement in an oil spill in the Niger Delta, as per news sources. This overturns the judgment of the Court of Appeal that halted the company’s sale and ordered payment of a judgment claim before hearing its appeal. The Supreme Court judgment is currently unavailable to the public.
Shell Plc is a Britain-based multinational oil and gas company that is involved in multiple lawsuits over alleged oil spills. Shell has been reporting its oil spills since 1995 and has since reported more than a hundred spills in the country. The case began in November 2020 against the oil company in the High Court which ordered the company to pay NGN 800 billion (approximately USD 878 million) as compensation to the communities of Egbalor Ebubu of River state, who accused the firm of an oil spill that damaged their waterways and farms. Shell moved to the Court of Appeals against the High Court judgment, however, the firm was ordered to cease the sale of its local assets and to deposit a fee before proceeding with the appeal.
In May 2023, the United Kingdom Supreme Court in Jalla v. Shell International Trading and Shipping Company ruled in favor of the company stating that it was “too late” for the petitioners to sue Shell over the 2011 offshore oil spill as they brought their case after a six-year period. It rejected the claimants’ argument that the oil spill has led to a “continuing nuisance”. The Dutch Court of Appeal in 2021 reaffirmed the lower court ruling and ruled in favor of four Nigerian farmers and Friends of the Earth, an environmental organization, in a legal dispute against Shell, following which the energy giant in the Netherlands agreed to pay EUR 15 million to the affected Nigerians in December 2022.
In 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a document detailing the devastating impacts of the oil spill in Ogoniland, Nigeria, and set out exigent recommendations for a clean-up with an initial investment of USD 1 billion for the first five years. It was reported in 2020 by Amnesty that work has been initiated in only 11% of planned sites while large swathes of the area in Nigeria are contaminated.
An Amnesty International report of May 2023 stated that as per government regulations, oil companies and community representatives are supposed to prepare a “Joint Investigation Visit” report assessing key information of the oil spill, however, the report identified “flaws in the JIV process for identifying the volume, cause and impact of oil spills.” These oil spills have repeatedly affected the local communities and are a violation of their human rights, said the report. Amnesty International Nigeria’s Director, Osai Ojigho in February 2023 condemning the poor regulatory system of Nigeria said:
Had this level of contamination and pollution occurred in Europe or North America, it is hard to imagine that there would not have been swift and severe consequences and legal redress.
