On Wednesday, the UK Supreme Court ruled that it was too late for Nigerian claimants to file a lawsuit against two Shell companies over an offshore oil spill from 2011, which they claim had a terrible long-term effect on the coastal region where they live.
The lawsuit was one of several legal disputes Shell has been engaged in with people of Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta in London courts; the area is plagued by pollution, conflict, and corruption related to the oil and gas business.
The case resulted from the estimated 40,000 barrels of crude oil that leaked on December 20, 2011, when an oil tanker was being loaded at Shell’s massive Bonga oil field, 120 kilometers off the delta coast.
457 villages and a group of 27,800 people are suing Shell on the grounds that the ensuing oil slick damaged local lands and waterways, harming mangrove trees, holy sites, fishing, farming, and drinking water.
However, the Supreme Court upheld decisions made by two lower courts that concluded the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit after a six-year legal period had passed.
Five Supreme Court justices unanimously rejected the lawyers’ claim that the pollution’s continued effects constituted a specific kind of civil tort known as a “continuing nuisance” in their decision. This would have shown that the six-year window was not in effect.
“The Supreme Court disapproves of the claimants’ argument. In this case, there was no ongoing annoyance, Justice Andrew Burrows ruled on behalf of the panel.
The Bonga spill was distributed offshore and had little impact on the beach, according to Shell, which refuted the claimants’ assertions. Because it was simply trying to resolve the legal question of nuisance, the court did not consider the facts in support of either side’s claims or reach a decision on the matter.
The Supreme Court’s decision would be binding on the thousands of other parties who participated in the case in the lower courts, even though there were only two Nigerian individuals who filed an appeal in the case.
In an earlier instance regarding Niger Delta pollution, the court found in favor of Shell. It permitted a group of 42,500 farmers and fishermen from the Ogale and Bille communities to sue Shell over spills in February 2021; the High Court is now hearing the case.
In a different case, Shell finally conceded in 2015, following a protracted court battle in London, to compensate the Bodo community of the delta with 55 million pounds ($70 million) for two spills.
