1501 Nigeria: Long-awaited victory as Shell finally pays out £55 million over Niger Delta oil spills

Oil company, Royal Dutch Shell has paid an overdue compensation payment to a community located in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. This community saw their environment polluted and their livelihoods destroyed as the consequence of the oil spills caused by the company.

In the Bodo area of the Niger Delta, thousands of people lost their livelihoods because of two oil spills over the course of six years. Many of the residents of Bodo live from farming and fishing and the pollution spoilt their land and waters, depriving them of income and food. The result was an increase in poverty in the village.

Finally after six years the people of the Bodo area have been compensated for their losses through legal action in the United Kingdom, the home state of the company. Due to the pressure from this lawsuit, they were obliged to disclose information they were otherwise not intending to disclose and the company offered a £55 out-of-court settlement to the community.  

As the Director of the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development mentions, the compensation is a “step towards justice for the people of Bodo, but justice will be fully achieved when Shell properly cleans up the heavily polluted creeks and swamps so that those who rely on fishing and farming for their income can begin to rebuild their livelihoods”. Still this compensation payment may be considered as a victory for the people of Bodo and as a sign of hope for all those fighting corporate negligence, because legal action in the home country of the companies can bear fruit.

Source: Amnesty USA