Shell announced on Friday that it has agreed to pay 15 million Euros to farmers in Ogoni communities in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta as compensation for damages in a case that was filed over 13 years ago.
The payment was made in accordance with the Dutch Appeal Court’s Friday, 29 January ruling, which ordered Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary to pay damages to the villages in Ogoniland as a result of oil pipeline leaks.
Four Nigerian farmers sued Shell in court between 2004 and 2007 for damages caused by pipeline leaks in Ogoniland, Rivers State (Oruma and Goi), as well as a well leak in the village of Ikot Ada Udo, with the help of the environmental group Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie).
Additionally, the plaintiffs demanded that Shell start the cleanup process and implement measures to stop future oil spills.
But in the legal dispute that was initially filed in 2018, Shell denied responsibility, blaming the spills on sabotage and asserting that the clean-up had been completed successfully.
However, the court determined that Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was in charge of numerous instances of oil pollution and was accountable for the harm brought on by the oil leaks.
The company announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement with Milieudefensie to pay 15 million euros to the impacted communities in accordance with the court’s decision.
“Under the settlement, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) as operator of the SPDC joint venture, will pay an amount of EUR 15 million for the benefit of the communities and the individual claimants,” it said in a statement.
It also confirmed the installation of a leak detection system on 20 pipeline segments in accordance with the Dutch court ruling and that remediation work has been completed.
However, the oil firm said the deal for the payout “is on a no admission of liability basis, and settles all claims and ends all pending litigation related to the spills”.
