Shell 'destroyed our way of life', Nigerian activist says ahead UK trial
STORY: Protesters gathered outside London's High Court on Thursday said Shell should take responsibility for environmental pollution in Nigeria as a pivotal hearing in lawsuits brought against the British oil major began.
Thousands are suing Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary SPDC over oil spills in the Niger Delta, a region blighted by pollution, conflict and corruption related to the oil and gas industry.
Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community in the Niger Delta, spoke outside the court.
"Shell, Royal Dutch Shell have polluted our land, destroyed our way of life, and the two basic rights that we are supposed to have, rights to life, and then rights to clean environment, they are saying we don't have it and that's why we are here in the courts."
In Nigeria, hundreds of indigenes barricaded a Shell manifold where a recent oil spill overflowed from a saver pit.
Here's a Ogale community leader Kagima Igwe-Benjamin.
''Our crops are not coming out, we don't have drinking water mostly, the underground water is seriously affected, even when you dig a borehole now you cannot get good water to drink, the whole of Ogale.'
:: File
Decades of oil spills caused widespread environmental damage, destroying the livelihood of millions in communities near the Niger Delta, and impacted their health.
Shell, however, says the vast majority of spills were caused by illegal third-party interference, such as pipeline sabotage and theft.
Shell's lawyers said in court filings that SPDC recognizes it is obliged to compensate those harmed even if it is not at fault.
But Okpabi said Shell had made billions of dollars in Nigeria and had a moral responsibility to prevent and remediate oil spills.
"That money is blood money."
Parts of the case began nearly a decade ago.
In 2021, the UK's Supreme Court ruled that the case should be heard in the English courts.
The lawsuit is the latest example of multinationals being sued in London for the acts of overseas subsidiaries.
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