By Renson Mwakandana
In order to make up for the harm that four Nigerian farmers and their communities claim was brought on by pollution from Shell’s oil pipeline leaks, Shell has agreed to pay $16 million (£13 million) to them.
The oil firm and the environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth reached an agreement on the amount. But according to a joint statement, it is being granted with “no admission of liability.”
The oil sector in Nigeria has significantly harmed the environment. The oil leaks in this instance occurred between 2004 and 2007, and the payout comes after a Dutch court determined that the Nigerian unit of Shell was accountable for the damage last year. The leaks, according to Shell, were caused by sabotage.
Up until the beginning of this year, Shell’s headquarters were in the Netherlands. The 2021 court ruling was lauded by activists as the first time a multinational had been held legally accountable for the actions of a subsidiary.
“Thanks to this compensation we can build up our community once again. We can start to re-invest in our living environment,” remarked Eric Dooh, the son of one of the farmers who brought the lawsuit in 2008 in conjunction with the Dutch chapter of Friends of the Earth.
Eric Dooh
Communities in Oruma, Goi, and Ikot Ada Udo will also get the funds. According to environmental campaigners and rural populations in the Niger Delta area, this development is hailed as a milestone even if the compensation sum is not significant.
Many people in the region continue to suffer health problems and loss of income due to oil contamination.
Barizaa Dooh, Elder Friday Alfred Akpan, Chief Fidelis A. Oguru, and Alali Efanga, the four farmers who initiated the action, claimed that the contamination of land and rivers caused by subsurface oil pipeline breaches had cost them their livelihoods.
Since Mr. Efanga and Mr. Dooh passed away after the complaint was initially filed, their sons took the matter on. The court judgment from last year mandated that Shell install a system for leak early detection in addition to compensation. According to the joint statement from Shell and Friends of the Earth, this has now been installed.
