Friends of the Earth supporters unfold a banner on Friday outside the district court in The Hague, Netherlands, where the court delivered its judgment in a long-running case in which four Nigerian farmers are seeking compensation and a cleanup from energy giant Shell for pollution caused by leaking oil pipelines in the Niger Delta. Photo:AP
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | JANUARY 30th 2021
A Dutch court had made the decision on Friday to force the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell to reimburse local farmers in the African country for damages cause by an oil spill back in 2008. The farmers are to be paid for the instance of oil pollution in the Niger Delta river.
The decision had been reached by the Court of Appeal in The Hague, for the British-Dutch oil company’s Nigerian subsidiary to compensate for any and all damages – ruled to be their fault as of recent. As such, compensations will be paid to Nigerian farmers who’d suffered over the effects of the spill for well over a decade now.
“Shell Nigeria is sentenced to compensate farmers for damages,” the court said during its ruling. The ruling may be appealed through the Dutch Supreme Court, but no word of such an appeal has come just yet, as it was unspecified how many farmers are to be reimbursed, nor how much.
“Hundreds of people have queued up to sue Shell for contaminating the Niger Delta,” reported Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, from the Nigerian capital, Abuja. He’d been citing the cases brought forward against the Shell company both in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. “I spoke to an activist a short while ago who said, ‘This is just the beginning’, and a lot of analysts also believe [the ruling] will open the floodgates to so many litigations against oil production companies that have been operating in Nigeria.”
The Niger Delta is known to be a rather important wetland, that spans well over 70,000 km2. It’s also the focal point for many environmental disasters, given that between 1976 and 1996, The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) estimated that around 1.89 million barrels of petroleum had been spilled into its waters throughout that period.
BBC's Anna Holligan reported from The Hague that this ruling could have a significant impact beyond just the confines of the courts or of Nigeria. This single verdict may have a lasting effect in terms of corporate responsibility on a multinational level, especially in an increasingly environmental world where climate is acknowledged as a much greater threat.
Leaking oil pipelines continue to be a dangerous issue to this day in the Niger Delta. The case had been launched by Barizaa Dooh, Elder Friday Alfred Akpan, Chief Fidelis A Oguru and Alali Efanga – four Nigerian farmers who’d found themselves among the population suffering as a result from the 2006-2007 spillage.
“I'm very happy - the common man in Nigeria now has hope,” said Princewill Efanga to the BBC. The son of Chief Oguru, James Oguru had stated that “justice had prevailed” before going on to urge the Shell corporation to do the right thing in accordance with the ruling, so that they may get on with their lives as farmers.
