Shell must take responsibility for environmental damage caused by oil spills in Nigeria, a community leader urged on Thursday, as a critical hearing in lawsuits against the British oil giant began at London’s High Court.
Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community in the Niger Delta, told Reuters he was appealing to Shell’s conscience to remediate the devastation, which he said had “destroyed our way of life.”
Thousands of residents from the Ogale and Bille communities are suing Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC, over oil spills that have long polluted the Niger Delta—a region plagued by environmental degradation, conflict, and corruption linked to the oil and gas industry.
Decades of spills have severely impacted local livelihoods and health, yet Shell argues that most incidents result from third-party interference, including pipeline sabotage and theft, which are rampant in the area.
A Shell spokesperson stated that the litigation “does little to address the real problem in the Niger Delta: oil spills due to theft, illegal refining, and sabotage, which cause the most environmental damage.”
Shell’s lawyers have acknowledged in court filings that SPDC is responsible for compensating those harmed by oil spills, regardless of fault. However, they maintain that liability does not apply when compensation has already been paid or when spills result from “malicious acts of third parties.”
Okpabi, however, accused Shell of profiting from Nigeria’s oil wealth—calling it “blood money”—while neglecting its moral duty to clean up oil spills.
“As we speak, people are dying in Ogale, my community,” he said. “It is sad that Shell will now want to take us through this very expensive, very troublesome trial, claiming one technicality or the other.”
Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Okpabi addressed the start of a four-week hearing that will assess key aspects of Nigerian law, including whether SPDC can be held liable for spills caused by third-party interference. A further trial is scheduled for 2026.
The case, which began nearly a decade ago, reached the UK Supreme Court in 2021, where judges ruled that the lawsuit should be heard in English courts.
It is the latest in a series of legal battles where multinational corporations are being sued in London for the actions of their overseas subsidiaries, following a landmark ruling in 2019.
