Today the Appeals Court in The Hague ruled that Shell is liable for the damages caused by several oil spills and the envivironmental damage that was caused in the Niger Delta as a result. Shell will have to compensate the Nigerian farmers for the damages they suffered and install a leak-detection system in the Oruma pipeline. The suit against Shell was brought by Nigerian farmers and the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth (Milieudefensie); they were represented in these proceedings by lawyers Channa Samkalden en Elles ten Vergert.
In a third case, concerning an oil spill and pollution in Ikot Ada Udo, the Appeals Court rendered an interlocutory verdict in which it ordered further investigation into the question of whether the contamination still needs to be cleaned up and to what extent the contamination has spread.
The three judgments are available here (in Dutch).
Annexes
- NOS: 'Shell aansprakelijk voor olievervuiling in Nigeria, moet boeren betalen' (in Dutch)
- BBC: 'Shell Nigeria ordered to pay compensation for oil spills'
Previously