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Information for the press

On 9 May 2008, victims of Shell’s oil pollution and Milieudefensie instituted legal proceedings against Shell Nigeria and the Shell parent company in the Netherlands. Three cases, with four victims from the villages of Goi, Ikot Ada Udo and Oruma, were brought before the court. The last court session was on 14 September 2011. This is the first time in history that a Dutch company is being brought before a Dutch court to answer for damage it has caused abroad.

Court struggle continues

On 14 September 2011 a written decision was taken in the case of Milieudefensie and the four Nigerians against Shell. The court ruled on our request to view 30 internal Shell documents, denying access by Milieudefensie and the Nigerian farmers to these internal Shell documents. The documents could have thrown light on the circumstances surrounding the leaks from Shell oil pipelines in Nigeria and the involvement of Shell’s Dutch parent company in these. The final written arguments must be submitted by 14 December 2011. The first substantive proceedings are expected to be held in the first half of 2012.

UNEP report exposes the failures of Shell in Nigeria

The UNEP report, which was presented to the Nigerian government on 4 August 2011, gives an alarming view of the consequences of Shell’s operational management in Nigeria. Now that the UN environmental program UNEP has irrefutably determined that the Nigerian region Ogoniland is extremely polluted and clean-up operations have been inadequate, in our opinion Shell must finally take its responsibility for decades of environmental pollution. That means cleaning up the Niger Delta and compensating its residents. One of the four plaintiffs in Nigeria lives in the region which the UNEP investigated.

The legal case

On 5 November 2008, a unique legal case was filed in the court in The Hague, brought against Shell by four Nigerian victims of Shell oil leaks, in conjunction with Milieudefensie. It is the first time in history the international headquarters of Shell in the Netherlands was being brought before a Dutch court to answer for environmental problems it has caused abroad. At the first session, Shell argued that the Dutch court was not competent to rule on Shell in Nigeria. On 30 December 2009, however, the court ruled that the case is within its jurisdiction. This was the first major victory for the farmers and for us.

The lawsuit

Milieudefensie, in conjunction with four Nigerian farmers, instituted a legal case against Shell due to damages from oil pollution. The pollution has destroyed fish ponds and agricultural lands. We want Shell to repair the damage and to compensate the victims for damages suffered.

We also want to prevent such injustice from taking place in the future – for Nigerians, as well as for residents of other developing countries. We want Dutch companies to behave abroad as they do in their own country. This means they must act with respect for people and the environment. This also applies to Shell, which has its headquarters in The Hague. It should be made clear to Shell that it must ensure that problems such as those in Nigeria are prevented. If something should go wrong, Shell must quickly repair the damage and compensate the victims, just as they would in the Netherlands.

The Nigerian victims

The four victims of the leaks come from the villages of Goi, Oruma and Ikot Ada Udo. They are Nigerian farmers and fishers who lost their livelihoods after oil from leaking Shell pipelines streamed over their fields and into their fish ponds. They are asking for compensation from the Dutch multinational. They also want Shell to clean up the oil that has been left behind on the soil, so that they can again fish and farm. This legal case is their last chance to obtain justice and to claim compensation for the damages suffered.