King Bebe Okpabi, pictured here at a protest outside the high court in February, says: ‘People in Ogale are dying; Shell need to bring a remedy.’ Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
The Nigerian communities of Bille and Ogale-about 50,000 people in all-have filed a lawsuit against multinational Shell and its former Nigerian subsidiary, now renamed Renaissance Africa Energy, for decades of environmental pollution caused by oil activities, including severe damage to drinking water resources. The court case, initiated in 2015, will come to trial in March 2027 in the High Court in London. The court has already acknowledged the existence of 85 spill incidents and ruled that Shell can also be held liable for damages resulting from third-party actions, such as frequent sabotage of pipelines. Local communities are demanding environmental remediation and economic compensation, while the company continues to deny any direct responsibility, saying it has always operated in accordance with applicable regulations.
In Ogale, at least 40 spills from Shell's infrastructure since 1989 have caused groundwater contamination 1,000 times higher than legal limits, according to UNEP's 2010 findings. The water, according to the U.N., “requires emergency action before any other remediation,” and exposure to hydrocarbons “would certainly have led to long-term health consequences.” Families, engaged in fishing and farming, can no longer use wells or cultivate fields, which have been rendered barren by pollution. In Bille, huge spills devastated 13,200 hectares of mangroves between 2011 and 2013, exterminating fish and depriving fishermen of their main source of food. The community, consisting of about 45 islands, suffered extensive environmental and economic damage. Leigh Day, the U.K. law firm representing the plaintiffs, brought the action against Shell seeking cleanup and compensation.
Last June 20, Judge May ruled on more than 20 preliminary issues. She acknowledged that “some 85 spills have been identified so far,” and said that while the case is “still at a very early stage,” Shell could also be held liable for spills caused by third parties -- for example, “bunkering,” or sabotaging pipelines to steal oil. It also said that although there is a five-year statute of limitations for filing lawsuits, “every day that oil remains” on land affected by spills, a new lawsuit will arise.
The multinational company has responded firmly, attributing most of the spills to “criminal acts of third parties,” such as oil thieves or illegal refineries, denying its own direct responsibility. “This criminality is the cause of most of the spills in the Bille and Ogale basins,” said a spokesman, adding that the disputes are now being handled by a joint venture with former subsidiary Shell, which “draws on its expertise in spill response and cleanup.” Shell stressed that “the cleanup certificates were issued by the Nigerian regulator NOSDRA.” But for communities, the company's position is unacceptable.
It is news today that Bubaraye Dakolo, traditional ruler of the kingdom of Ekpetiama (Bayelsa, Nigeria), has sued Shell demanding $12 billion-about €10.4 billion-for cleanup, infrastructure decommissioning, and compensation after selling on-shore assets to Renaissance Africa without repairing environmental damage. Also known as King Agada IV and a human and environmental rights activist, Dakolo is supported by Nigerian NGOs exposing river and land pollution.
The judicial path marked a turning point in 2021, when the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that there were “reasonable grounds” to hold U.K.-based Royal Dutch Shell liable for environmental damage caused by its subsidiary. This was a landmark ruling, overturning decisions by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, affirming that a parent company can be held liable for the actions of its subsidiaries if it exercises a sufficient degree of control. This precedent, along with two important verdicts in Netherlands v. Shell, has paved the way for greater accountability of multinational corporations for their activities in countries of the Global South.
