Success Nwogu 
Two oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Ogale and Bille, have reapproached a High Court in the United Kingdom, to challenge Shell Plc over an alleged attempt to delay a legal case against it by the communities on oil spillage and pollution.
The cases were first filed in 2015, but Shell spent years allegedly trying – unsuccessfully – to stop the cases from proceeding in the UK.
In 2015, the Ogale and Bille Nigerian communities respectively filed claims against the UK Company Royal Dutch Shell in UK High Court.
The plaintiffs consist of 42,500 residents of Nigeria who seek remedy for extensive oil pollution which affected their livelihoods and the environment. The case is ongoing.
According to the Business & Human Rights Centre, the Ogale and Bille communities on 14 October and 22 December 2015, respectively filed claims against the UK company Royal Dutch Shell plc and its Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in the UK High Court.
Both claims were brought by law firm Leigh Day on behalf of around 42,500 residents and citizens of Nigeria who seek remedy for extensive oil pollution which considerably affected their livelihoods and the environment.
The claimants argued that Shell failed to prevent oil spills adequately and subsequently to conduct proper clean-up in order to avoid serious contamination of agricultural lands and waterways.
Saharareporters noted that in 2021 the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that there was a “good arguable case” that Shell plc, the UK parent company, were liable for the pollution affecting the two Niger Delta communities and that the cases should be heard in London.
A law firm, Leigh Day, and its international team of lawyers have represented the Ogale and Bille communities in their eight-year battle to make Shell account for the pollution and oil spillage damage.
But despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, Shell is now said to be arguing that there should be a full trial against Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, which would take several years before Shell plc is subjected to the court’s processes.
This entails that Shell plc would have no disclosure obligations and would not be under legal scrutiny until after the trial relating to its Nigerian subsidiary was completed.
Leigh Day said that Shell’s applications are part of its attempts to delay legal accountability.
According to it, the Supreme Court made it clear that the responsibilities and procedures of Shell plc and its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), are intertwined and so the claimants argue that the cases against both must be heard together.
The law firm said that the arguments to be heard by the court are particularly important given that the company is currently seeking to divest from the region leaving behind what has been recently labelled by an international commission of experts as an “environmental genocide.”
Saharareporters noted that at a hearing in April 2023 Shell made another attempt to delay the case by arguing that the arguments on points of Nigerian law should be heard first in a separate hearing, which would result in the case being delayed. “The judgment on that point is outstanding.”
Leigh Day partner, Dan Leader, who is leading the claim on behalf of the Niger Delta communities said that “Once again, eight years after these claims were issued, Shell is trying to further delay the proceedings and to protect the parent company, Shell plc, from any legal scrutiny.
While they deploy a myriad of meritless technical legal arguments our clients continue to live with the devastating impacts of pollution from Shell’s oil pipelines.
“A responsible company would ensure clean up takes place quickly, public health is protected and people whose livelihoods have been destroyed are compensated.
But Shell is showing itself to have little regard for the Nigerian communities it has operated in for decades. We hope and expect the court to cut through Shell’s obstruction and progress the litigation quickly.”
