A cache of internal documents recently disclosed in legal proceedings in the UK against fossil fuel company Shell Plc has lifted the lid on its negligent and polluting operations in the Niger Delta.
NEW: Most of the documents – which include email exchanges between senior executives and confidential audits – have not been previously reported on. Most were released after a group of campaigning groups applied for their publication on public interest grounds. Other Shell documents were cited in legal documents in a case brought by two Nigerian communities against Shell in the UK. The two communities, Bille and Ogale, claim that Shell failed to prevent and then remediate devastating oil pollution over many years.
For affected communities, the findings confirm what many have said for decades: oil pollution has damaged water, farmland, fisheries, health and livelihoods, while companies continued to profit and deny responsibility.
This briefing is published by Amnesty International together with The Corner House, Hawkmoth, HEDA Resource Centre, Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre, Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI), ReCommon, Social Action and SOMO. Together, we have campaigned for years for justice for the people of the region. We have also closely scrutinized the operations of the oil industry, including Shell’s failures to maintain its infrastructure in line with international standards, prevent spills, adequately clean up and remediate pollution, and disclose information on the condition of its infrastructure and the impact of the operations on people and the environment.
Read “Nigeria: Lifting the Lid – Internal Documents Expose Shell’s Negligent Oil Operations.”