Shell Nigeria oil spill case in UK court

Nigeria

LONDON, May 23, 2018 – Lawyers for a Niger Delta community argued in a London court Tuesday to continue their case against Shell over two 2008 oil spills, local and international media reported.

In 2015, Shell agreed to pay the Bodo community in Ogoniland of Rivers state GBP 55 million to clean up after the oil spills. The local arm of the IOC argued that litigation should end in October 2018 or 2019 unless the company fails to pay for the clean-up.

“The effect of what Shell is trying to do is to kill off the case,” Dan Leader, the Bodo community’s lead lawyer, was quoted as saying by Reuters. “It’s only because of the pressure of litigation that the clean-up is getting back on track.” 

Shell argued that continuing the litigation led some in the community to hope for a greater payout and delayed the cleanup. 

The ruling is expected on Friday.

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