Shell in Nigeria: Polluted Bille, Oghale communities & Leigh Day lawyers fit sue Royal Dutch Shell for English court
Supreme Court for United Kingdom don rule say Bille and Oghale communities inside Nigeria wey suffer oil pollution fit drag Shell oil company go English Courts to demand compensations and clean up.
Oil Pollution for Billie Village Di two oil-rich communities for Niger Delta region fit sue Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS) and dia Nigerian branch, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), di UK Supreme Court rule on Friday 12 February, 2021. King of Bille Kingdom Igbiki-ngeri Ngowari Herbert call di ruling a welcome development. Na for December 2020 Bille Kingdom choose I.N.C Herbert as dia new King. "Now wey we don pass over di first hurdle, we don sabi say for here [Nigeria] dem for cari truth troway, we now know say truth go prevail." King Herbert, di Amayanabo of Bille Kingdom inside Rivers State Southern Nigeria tell BBC Pidgin. Di King of Bille Kingdom add say dis one dey important because, "we want make justice dey done, and we no want any kain bias for behind corners." King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi say im community no get means of livelihood again because of di oil spill damage and dis na why crime rate dey high and insecurity Supreme Court ruling - Background Dis Supreme Court ruling dey come two weeks afta di Dutch Court of Appeal ruling against di RDS for case wey four Nigerian farmers and Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) bring come wey say RDS dey responsible for di pollution for di region and make den improve dia pipeline network. Di villagers wey be Ogale and Bille communities don dey complain say dem dey suffer from di oil pollution of Shell operations for Nigeria for years and e don even pollute dia drinking water. But Shell dey tok say no be RDS dey legally responsible for wetin happun to di communities and dem no suppose hear di cases for England. Oil Pollution for Ogale Village Supreme Court ruling on Bille, Oghale communities vs SPDC - Wetin e mean? Wetin dis new ruling don do na say dem go fit hear di cases of dis two communities for English courts, sometin wey di communities don dey fight for di past five years. Dis na as dem claim say dem no go get di justice dem dey find for Nigeria. Di Supreme Court say di way RDS arrange Shell Group make dem liable for any harm wey dia subsidiaries for dion cause for di Ogale and Bille communities. Leigh Day partner Daniel Leader wey dey represent di communities tok say dis fit give real hope to di pipo of Ogale and Bille communities wey don dey ask Shell to clean up dia oil for years. Dis ruling go mean say di against RDS for di cleaning and compensation Ogale and Bille communities for dia oil operations for di region go now return to High Court so dem go hear am. Wetin Shell tok? Shell statement tok say: "Di oil spills for dis mata bin happun inside communities wey dey heavily affected by oil tiff-tiff, illegal oil refining, and di breaking alias sabotage of pipelines." Di company say, even though na di cause of di pollution, dia sister company divisions don work hard to both clean up and prevent spills. Dis Bille and Oghale mata na di latest from a list of international and domestic court cases alias law suits on top Shell oil drilling iniside Nigeria. In 2015 Shell accept say na dem cause two oil spills and agree to pay £55m ($76M) to Bodo community wey be one big village inside Ogoniland for Niger Delta and assist in diclean-up. In 2006 one Nigerian court order di company and partners to pay $1.5bn to Ijaw pipo of Bayelsa State for environmental katakata inside di area. Inside one oda ongoing civil case, women wey husbands die alias widows of four environmental activists wey Nigeria military goment bin hand for 1995 dey drag Shell for court ontop accuse say na dem provide support to di military. Shell deny di claims. Shell Nigeria chop court order to pay compensation for oil spills A Dutch appeals court rule for January 2021 say di Nigerian branch of oil giant Shell na im dey responsible for leaks for di Niger Delta. Di court order make Shell Nigeria pay compensation to Nigerian farmers, while im subsidiary and im Anglo-Dutch parent company go install equipment wey go prevent future damage. Four Nigerian farmers who alleged widespread of pollution on dia land na dem launch di case in 2008. Shell Nigeria fit appeal di ruling. Di court say dem go determine di amount of compensation ''at a later stage''