By Olamide Francis
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/ FOEN) has expressed pleasure over the recent judgement by the Netherlands Court of Appeal that held Shell liable for the oil spills it caused across Nigeria’s coastal communities of the Niger Delta in 2008.
It will be recalled that in 2008, four Nigerian farmers from Ikot Ada Udo, Oruma and Goi in the Niger Delta supported by the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria and sister organisation, Milieudefensie/Friends of the Earth Netherlands, sued Shell because of oil pollution in the three Nigerian villages.
This case was the first in which a Dutch company, together with its subsidiary, had been sued in a Dutch court for damages caused abroad.
In a press statement, Nosa Tokunbor, legal officer, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria stated that the case had dragged on for over 13 years with a lot of legal somersaults occasioned by Shell, noting the appeal court in the Hague on January 29, 2021, ruled that Royal Dutch Shell was liable to pay compensation for the oil spills which polluted rivers, fishponds and farmlands that thousands of local farmers and fishermen use.
Also reacting to the court ruling, Dr Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria and a notable environmentalist in the country described the outcome of the case as a landmark judgement which the organisation is very proud of.
He said the judgement showed that the days of oil companies in Nigeria, particularly Shell criminalising local communities and framing them up for sabotage of crude oil pipelines are over.
According to him, “Shell no longer has any hiding place, as this victory will open up a floodgate of court cases against Shell and the oil companies doing business in Nigeria and hiding under weak regulations, lack of enforcement of its extant rules, and taking advantage of the lack of political will of the Nigerian government to bring oil transnationals to account.”
