On 28 August 2008 a fault in the Trans-Niger pipeline resulted in a massive oil spill into Bodo Creek in Ogoniland. The oil poured into the swamp and creek for weeks, covering the area in a thick slick of oil and killing the fish that people depend on for food and for their livelihood. © CEHRD
Amnesty International has been conducting research on human rights abuses linked to the oil industry in the Niger Delta since the mid-1990s.1 Working jointly with the Port Harcourt-based Centre for the Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), this has included investigations into the cause and impact of pollution in Ogale and Bodo, which are two of the communities that have brought cases against Shell.2 Amnesty International has also investigated Shell’s role in the military crackdown of the 1990s, reviewing thousands of pages of court depositions and internal company documents.3