In 1995, pollution and politics in Nigeria hit the oil giant’s reputation hard
John Vidal: Tuesday 9 November 2010 17.33 GMT
A Shell Oil wellhead spill near Oloibiri Town, Bayelsa, Nigeria. Photograph: Ed Kashi/Corbis
1995 was Shell’s annus horribilis. Even as British environmentalists condemned its plan to dispose of the giant Brent Spar oil platform in the North Sea, a greater threat to the global brand emerged in the deep poverty of the Niger Delta where author and Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, along with other tribal leaders, had challenged the company to clean up pollution from its wells and share more of its revenue with the poorest.