Shell must compensate Nigerian farmers for oil spills, court rules
The Nigerian branch of Shell must compensate four farmers from the African country, the appeals court in The Hague ruled on Friday. The court held the company liable for two oil spills, ANP and NOS report.
The amount of compensation will be determined on a later date. The lawsuit was filed by the four farmers, supported by environmental organization Milieudefensie. The two oil spills resulted in the farmers losing their agricultural land 15 years ago.
Parent company Shell is not liable for the oil spills, but the company must do more to prevent further oil spills, the court ruled.
The court withheld from ruling on a third claim. That oil spill was caused by sabotage, which means that Shell Nigeria is not liable under Nigerian law. But before ruling, the court wants to investigate whether Shell did enough to protect the pipeline from sabotage.
