(Security): International Oil Company, Shell to Pay Millions to Nigerian Farmers for Oil Spills

 

International Oil giant Shell has agreed to pay U.S.$16 million to four Nigerian farmers and their communities to compensate for damage allegedly caused by pollution as a result of leaks in its oil pipelines.

The four Nigerian farmers who began the case; Barizaa Dooh, Elder Friday Alfred Akpan, Chief Fidelis A Oguru, and Alali Efanga said the leaks from underground oil pipelines had cost them their livelihoods by contaminating land and waterways.

The oil spills, in this case, happened from 2004 to 2007 and the payout follows a decision last year by a Dutch court that the Nigerian branch of Shell was responsible for the damage. The villages are Goi in Ogoni land, Rivers State; Oruma in Bayelsa State; and Ikot Ada Udo in Akwa Ibom State.

Shell had argued that the leaks were a result of sabotage.

In 2021, a Dutch Appeal court ruled - following 15 years of legal battles - that Shell's Nigerian branch must pay out for a series of leaks and that the parent company must install new pipeline equipment to prevent further devastating spills.

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