This week Shell is appearing in the High Court. It will be answering to 13,000 people from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta.

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Hi John,
This week, Shell is appearing in the High Court in London. It will be answering to 13,000 people from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta, whose homes and local environments have been polluted by oil spilling out of Shell’s oil pipes – it’s the latest step in a 9-year legal fight.

Unsurprisingly, Shell is fighting this attempt to bring it to justice in court. And while this case goes on, Shell has also been working to sell most of its Nigerian operations. This could help it to wash its hands of the damage it has caused in the Niger Delta, with communities left paying the price.

This case could be key in forcing Shell to clean up and compensate communities in the Niger Delta, no matter what financial deals it strikes. At this week’s hearing, the Ogale and Bille communities will ask a judge to force Shell to release documents that they think could help to prove its culpability for oil spills.

This hearing is an opportunity to make sure as many people as possible hear about Shell’s ongoing impacts in the Niger Delta and the Ogale and Bille communities’ fight for justice. Can you share our blog about the case?
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We know that corporate power is out of control across the world, and this case proves it once again. Shell seems to think it can destroy lives in the Niger Delta, then sell up, pocket its cash and leave communities to pay the price. Instead, we need to make polluters like Shell pay for the damage they’ve done.

We also need a globally just transition from fossil fuels, to dismantle this toxic industry. At Global Justice Now, we’ve been campaigning for a Fossil Fuel Treaty to make it happen.

While we’re fighting for that, we must keep standing with people fighting fossil fuels on the frontlines, and amplifying their demands for justice. That’s why I’m writing to you about this case.

Here are five things you need to know about the Ogale and Bille case and why it’s important:
1. Communities in the Niger Delta are still grappling with oil pollution every day

Shell’s presence in Nigeria has been characterised by destructive extractivism - it has reported over 17.5 million litres of oil spilled in the Niger Delta since 2011.

Oil has infused water and soil that people depend on. The Bille community has lost over 13,000 hectares of mangrove swamp vital to local life. The Ogale community’s water supply is still visibly contaminated with oil. While Shell tries to delay justice, people in the Niger Delta are still at huge risk because of oil spills from its operations.
2. Communities in the Niger Delta say Shell’s mistakes caused harmful oil spills

The Ogale and Bille communities are arguing that Shell is responsible for maintaining and protecting its oil pipes properly to avoid oil spills wherever possible. They say Shell failed to do this and now communities in the Niger Delta feel the impacts every day.

This week’s hearing is about trying to find out if Shell was prioritising its profits when it failed to protect against massive oil pollution in the Niger Delta. This evidence could be vital in building an effective case against Shell.
3. If Shell wins this case, it could impact community power all around the world

Shell accepts that it is legally obliged to clean up oil it spilled in the Niger Delta, but now it’s claiming that communities can’t legally demand the clean-up themselves. Instead, Shell is arguing that only a Nigerian regulator can force it to clean up oil it spilled in the Niger Delta.

This argument is dangerous and could have huge impacts if successful. Oil-impacted communities in Nigeria could be unable to force Shell or any other global company to clean up the spilled oil that has wrecked many lives. It might also help other multinational corporations which have caused devastation in the global south to ignore communities who are demanding justice.
4. Shell in Nigeria has colonial roots and has been linked to violence

Shell has been present in Nigeria since 1937; its first license to drill for oil there was granted by colonial authorities.

Since then, the company has been linked to lethal actions by Nigerian security and military forces. In 1990 peaceful protesters gathered at one of Shell’s facilities in the Niger Delta. Shell requested the assistance of a paramilitary police unit to respond. The unit descended with guns and grenades, killing 80 people and torching nearly 600 houses. A pattern of Shell requesting police and military interventions which ended in violence emerged for some years after this.
5. Shell is selling up in Nigeria without clearing up the mess it has made

In January Shell announced it would be selling its Nigerian onshore oil subsidiary in a deal worth over $2 billion. Nigerian activists believe this is an effort to avoid its legal responsibilities.

Shell has spent the last year rolling back on climate targets and reinvesting in oil globally. Shell cashing up in Nigeria without even cleaning up the mess it’s made, all while watering down its climate targets, is the exact kind of transition we must fight against. If Shell is allowed to get away with this, other global corporations could do the same.

It’s important that as many people as possible hear about Shell’s destructive extractivism in the global south and its attempt to sell up and ship out, leaving local communities to pick up the pieces. Please share our blog today to help make that happen.
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Thank you,
Izzie McIntosh
Climate campaigner at Global Justice Now

Read more
1. Shell to face human rights claims in UK over chronic oil pollution in Niger delta ([link removed]) , Guardian, 23 November 2023
2. Over 13,000 residents from the Ogale and Bille communities in Nigeria file claims against Shell for devastating oil spills ([link removed]) , Leigh Day, 2 February 2023
3. The village that stood up to big oil – and won ([link removed]) , Guardian, 1 June 2022
4. 'Oil companies owe a debt to the lives destroyed' ([link removed]) , Open Democracy, 27 December 2021
5. Was Shell complicit in murder? ([link removed]) , Amnesty International, 28 November 2017
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