Nigerian victims of oil pollution will get their day in court

 Years ago, when the catastrophic accident concerning BP's drilling in the Gulf of Mexico dominated the headlines, I drew attention to the plight of Nigerian citizens who also suffered from malign side-effects of oil exploitation. The blog post had some effect locally - I heard it being discussed in a Neath bus queue a few days later - but the wider community quickly lost interest in the story. When the High Court in England ruled four years ago that farmers affected by the oil spills could not sue in the courts of London, where Shell shares are quoted, it seemed that their cause was lost. The Court of Appeal upheld that decision. 

However, 2021 has brought two items of cheer. Firstly, the Hague Court of Appeals has ruled that Shell Nigeria is liable for damages caused by oil pipeline links. (The Anglo-Dutch parent, Royal Dutch Shell, is headquartered in the Netherlands.) Secondly, the Supreme Court last Friday overturned those rulings of the High Court and Court of Appeal.

Any award will come too late for many who have lost their livelihoods and maybe their lives, but thousands of victims will get their day in court which has been denied so long.