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Nigerians Sue Shell In Dutch Court Over Oil Spills
An
environmentalist group and four Nigerians filed suit
against Royal Dutch Shell PLC in The Netherlands last
Friday, claiming the company was negligent in cleaning
up oil spills in Nigeria.
The civil suit filed by the four men and Friends of the
Earth is unusual in that it seeks to hold Shell's parent
company liable for damages allegedly caused by its
Nigerian subsidiary.
The Anglo-Dutch company is the largest of the major oil
companies working in the African nation, which produces
3 percent of the world's oil.
More than 500 pollution cases have been filed in
Nigerian courts against Shell Nigeria, but few have made
their way through the judicial labyrinth to a conclusion
leading to compensation, Friends of the Earth
spokeswoman Anne van Schaik said.
“It's very hard to get justice in Nigeria,” she said.
“People run out of time, they run out of breath.” She
said the organisation hoped that winning a case in a
Dutch court would force Shell to act more quickly to
clean spills and compensate victims or risk a flood of
claims in The Netherlands.
Shell spokesman Andre Romeyn declined comment on the
case Friday, saying the company needed time to study the
complaint.
He added it might never comment while proceedings are
ongoing, to protect its legal position.
Shell has closed down most of its operations in
Nigeria's oil-rich Delta, due to attacks on personnel
and infrastructure.
It continues to produce at offshore facilities.
Alali Efanga, who traveled to the Netherlands from the
village of Oruma to file the suit, said thousands of
villagers had been sickened by oil that leaked from a
pressurized underground pipeline running through nearby
jungle.
He said Shell noticed the leak on June 26, 2005, but
took 12 days to fix it.
Fruit trees, cassava crops and waterways for miles
(kilometers) around were spoiled, including Efanga's own
fish ponds, he said.
”I cannot restock them the crude is still there,” he
said.
Shell's 2007 environmental report says its cleanup
efforts in Nigeria were slowed because the Nigerian
government was unable to pay its share it owns 55
percent of the joint venture Shell operates there.
However, Van Schaik said Shell's headquarters sets the
company's environmental policy and is responsible for
ensuring it is carried out.
Lawyers for the Nigerians expect the first court
hearings in February.
Many oil leaks in Nigeria are caused by criminals
tapping into the vast network of aboveground pipes and
tubes, and siphoning crude for resale to black-market
traders.
Job-seeking villagers also may purposely cause leaks and
then demand oil companies pay them clean up fees, or
“security contracts” to protect the tubes.By some
estimates, 10 percent of Nigeria's declared 2 million
barrel per day production is lost to thieves and the
leaking pipes they leave behind.
Community Devt Committee Stirs Trouble Between Urhobo,
Ijaw
Another round
of crisis is brewing between the Urhobo of Warri and the
Ijaw of Ogbe-Ijoh kingdom following alleged
marginalization of the Ijaw in the composition of the
Agbarha Community Development Committee, CDC, even as
the Ijaws have petitioned the state government of the
impending clash. Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan had, last
month dissolved all the CDCs in the three Warri local
council areas and now in the process of inaugurating
another body.The Ijaw have are alleging lopsidedness in
the composition of the recently dissolved board where
they were given only one slot out of the nine available
slots, saying that as major stakeholders in the area,
they would not accept the alleged lopsidedness again.
In a statement issued on behalf of the Ogbe-Ijoh people
by Messrs Oyimi Samson, Chairman, Ogbe-Ijoh Governing
Council; Goddy Okosu, youth president; Clement Tekedor,
Secretary General; Madam Queen Ajemotolu, Women Leader
and Chief F.P. Oweikpodor, spokesman of Ogbe-Ijoh
kingdom respectively, they maintained that the
“composition of the past Agbarha CDC fall short of the
requirements of Section 7 of the Development
Administration Law 2004 as there are more than one
recognized Traditional ruler in the area covered by the
Agbarha CDC.
They stated that the lopsidedness in favour of the
Urhobo have now given them the “false and erroneous
impression that the Agbarha CDC belongs to them alone”,
noting that the “Chairmanship position, Traditional
representative and at two members of the CDC be given to
them this time in the spirit of equity and in line with
Section 7 of the CDC Law”.However, Dr. Emmanuel Urhobo,
a lawyer and senior member of the Agbarha Kingdom told
newsmen that the Ijaws are only trying to create problem
where none exist, saying that “We are in Warri South LGA
while the Ogbe_Ijoh people are in Warri South West LGA”.
He stated further that the Ijaws are on the other side
of Warri river and therefore should let the sleeping dog
be, adding that the history of both kingdoms and peoples
are known and very clear to the authorities.
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