Shell settles with Ogoni

Shell agreed to settle a court case in New York related to allegations in connection with the Nigerian military government's execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and others in 1995.

The settlement will provide $15.5 million to compensate the injuries to the Plaintiffs and the deaths of their family members, and will also create a trust for the benefit of the Ogoni people, as well as pay the costs of litigation.

Shell was accused of collusion with military regime, which aim was to silence activists from Ogoni region. On this rich in oil area, Shell has started its operatations in 1958. The accusation was addressed to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and it included supporting militia in provision of weapons, hiring militia teams to silence protesting villagers and finally helping in capture and execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a leader of Ogoni freedom movement.

A basis of the case was legislation from 18th century Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows foreigners to suit companies in front of  U.S. courts. Originally this regulation supposed to combat piracy.

The opinions about the settlement, which finishes more than 10 years case, are various. What is underlined, it is the fact that nowadays multinationals companies have to comply with human rights regulations, because of the heavy financial and non-financial sanctions.

More information:
Shell press release [HTML]
Plaintiff’s statement [PDF]
Court settlement [PDF]
WWW [HTML]

Source: CSRinfo