Africans sue British oil giant for $310 million – Reuters

Communities in Nigeria affected by oil spills want Shell to address pollution concerns before selling assets in the country

Nigerian communities are demanding 505 billion naira ($310 million) in damages from British energy giant Shell for repeated oil spills in the Niger Delta region, Reuters has reported, citing court documents.

The outlet said on Friday that over 1,200 representatives from the Ilaje local government area had filed a complaint with the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, accusing Shell of violating an existing court order by striking a deal to sell its onshore assets in the Niger Delta.

The oil firm announced in January that it was selling its onshore assets in Africa’s most populous nation in a deal worth $2.4 billion. The sale to the Renaissance Group – a consortium of five companies – is intended to streamline the operations of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Shell said at the time.

Activists and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, expressed outrage over the move and urged the Nigerian government not to approve the sale until Shell addresses environmental damage concerns.

READ MORE: Oil giant quits onshore sector in Africa’s largest economy

The British corporation has been operating in Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, for over 80 years, weathering multiple controversies and environmental disasters, having pioneered the country’s oil and gas industry since 1937. Thousands of locals have filed complaints, demanding compensation from the London-based energy giant for disrupting their livelihoods due to pollution from multiple spills.

Late last year, the UK High Court ruled that more than 13,000 farmers and fishers from the oil-producing communities of Ogale and Bille could sue the company for violating their constitutional right to a clean environment.

Shell has denied responsibility, blaming most of the leaks on pipeline sabotage and illegal crude oil extraction.

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In the latest lawsuit, a group of communities in Ilaje, located in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria, have reportedly asked the Abuja court to halt the energy giant’s asset sale until a compensation dispute is resolved.

According to court papers cited by Reuters, they are pleading with judges to penalize Shell for proceeding with the deal “when the plaintiffs and the host of their community members have remained in perpetual suffering over the failure of the defendants to obey the preservative orders of a competent court.”

Locals in the coastal state have been at odds with the British corporation for more than a decade. In 2015, they accused Shell of excluding them from negotiations and compensation agreements reached with other communities affected by a spillage from the Bonga oil field in 2011.