Monitoring Desk
AMSTERDAM: Shell has agreed to pay 16m US dollars to Nigerian farmers to compensate for damages reportedly caused by pollution from leaks in its pipelines, western media reported on Friday.
The company will pay compensation to four farmers and their communities. It was agreed in talks between Friends of the Earth and the Shell company. The oil industry has been a major cause of environmental damage in Nigeria.
The oil spills in this matter took place from 2004 to 2007 and the payment follows a verdict last year by a Dutch court that Shell was responsible for the damage in Nigeria.
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The oil company has argued that the leak was a result of the sabotage act. Environment campaigners lauded the 2021 court verdict as the first time a company had been deemed legally responsible for such an act.
Shell and Farmers
Reacting to the development, Eric Dooh, the son of a farmer said that they can build up their community once again and now they can reinvest in their living environment. Environment activists said that the amount of compensation is not too much but this development is considered as a milestone for rural areas across Nigeria.
Barizaa Dooh, Chief Fidelis A Oguru, Alali Efanga, and Elder Friday Alfred had filed the case. Dooh and Efanga have died since the case was filed so their sons pursued the case in court.
Last year’s court ruling also ordered the oil company to constitute a leak early detection mechanism. The joint statement by Shell and Friends of the Earth said that the leak early detection mechanism has been installed.
