Published on :
The Hague (AFP) – Shell will pay 15 million euros in compensation to Nigerian farmers for oil leaks that seriously polluted three villages in the Niger Delta, the oil giant and the Milieudefensie organization said on Friday.
A Dutch court ruled in 2021 that Shell’s subsidiary in Nigeria was liable for damages resulting from the spills and ordered Shell to pay compensation in the long-running lawsuit brought by four Nigerian farmers.
“Shell and Milieudefensie have brokered an agreement to benefit the communities of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria, impacted by four oil spills that occurred between 2004 and 2007,” the oil giant said in a statement.
Shell “will pay an amount of 15 million euros for the benefit of communities and individual claimants”, the group said.
This agreement, which however cannot be seen as “an admission of liability”, settles all claims and puts an end to all pending disputes related to the spills, Shell said.
Supported by Milieudefensie – the Netherlands branch of the international organization Friends of the Earth – four Nigerian farmers and fishermen took legal action in the Netherlands in 2008, demanding that Shell – whose head office was then in The Hague – pay depollution works and pays them compensation.
The multinational has always attributed the pollution to sabotage and claimed to have cleaned up the premises.
The four original plaintiffs have all died since the start of the legal battle, pursued by their communities in southeastern Nigeria, one of Africa’s biggest oil producers.
“It is a great relief to all of us that following years of legal battle with Shell, we will soon receive this money as compensation for all that we have lost,” said current plaintiff Eric Dooh, quoted in a press release from Midfield defense.
The lawsuit and compensation mean that a “new normal has been set”, observes Donald Pols, director of Friends of the Earth Netherlands.
“Companies will no longer be able to get away with polluting and ignoring human rights”, and can now “be called to account”, he declared in the same press release.
© 2022 AFP
