Shell Wins Ruling Blocking Nigerian Spill Case Enforcement

By Eddie Spence: 5 December 2019, 12:33 GMT 

Nigerian court award for 1969 oil spill won’t apply in the U.K.

Appeal will be brought by affected Niger Delta community

Royal Dutch Shell Plc units won a U.K. ruling preventing London courts from enforcing a $516 million Nigerian judgment for damages caused by an oil spill half a century ago.

Judge Jason Coppel on Thursday overturned an attempt to carry over a 2010 ruling by a Nigerian court to the U.K., saying that those proceedings were unfair because Shell was denied an opportunity to present a defense.

Shell’s Nigerian units have been beset by lawsuits, many of them in U.K. courts, for their part in oil spills on the Niger Delta. The oil conglomerate has often sought to transfer the cases to Nigeria, with one even going to the U.K. Supreme Court to decide its jurisdiction. read more

Alleged Malabu oil fraud: Court to hear Adoke’s motion challenging FG’s charge

…Ex-AGF still in detention in Dubai – Ozekhome

Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

A lawyer to a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Adoke – Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said on Wednesday that an Abuja court has scheduled hearing for December 12 this year in a motion his client filed against the charge pending against him.

Ozekhome noted that the charge now pending before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in respect of which Adoke was currently being detained by the Interpol in Dubai, was initiated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by misrepresentation. read more

Malabu Scandal: Adoke asks court to strike out name from trial

Shell, Eni and their officials are already being prosecuted in Italy for their roles in the scandal.

December 3, 2019: Halimah Yahaya

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, on Monday, asked a Federal Capital Territory(FCT) High Court in Jabi to strike out his name from the ongoing trial of alleged abuse of office and money laundering by the anti-graft agency.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) in 2017 filed charges against Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Co. Ltd, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, Eni Spa, Raph Wetzels, Casula Roberto, Pujato Stefano, Burrito Sebastiano, Duazia Loya Etete (aka Dan Etete), Mr Adoke, Aliyu Abubakar and Malabu Oil & Gas Limited. read more

By: Dr Isaac Osuoka: November 2019

These are challenging times for residents of Nigeria’s Niger Delta area. Many leaders in the communities feel a high level of concern about travelling to Port Harcourt through the East-West Road due to the high level of banditry, kidnappings and killings recorded in recent weeks. Indeed, there is a heightened feeling of insecurity in Rivers State, and other Niger Delta communities, as elsewhere in the country. The situation may have gotten worse in the build-up to, and the aftermath of the 2019 General Election. read more

In an Italian case, prosecutors accuse former and current executives of Eni and Shell of paying bribes to secure the licence, and allege roughly $1.1 billion of the total was siphoned to agents and middlemen.

UPDATE 1 – Nigeria’s ex-attorney general arrested in Dubai over $1.3 bln oil deal

Chijioke Ohuocha: NOVEMBER 20, 2019

ABUJA, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s former attorney general Mohammed Adoke has been arrested in Dubai, his lawyer said, seven months after Nigeria’s anti-graft agency issued a warrant for his arrest as part of an investigation into one of the oil industry’s biggest suspected corruption scandals.

Adoke’s lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, said Adoke was arrested by Interpol on Monday 11 Nov., after travelling to Dubai for a medical appointment.

The investigation by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency relates to the $1.3 billion sale of a Nigerian offshore oilfield known as OPL 245 by Malabu Oil and Gas in 2011. read more

Too Bad for a Minority

“Dance, my people, dance the guns to silence”  – Ken Saro-Wiwa

By OSA DIRECTOR

Article published by Dateline Magazine: Page 5, Jan 4, 1996

Ken Saro-Wiwa, renowned author, playwright, committed environmentalist, social crusader, and intellectual humorist even in moments of terror, tribulation and humiliation, refuses to lose his wit candour and deep-seated enthusiasm to ensure justice for his people and redefine the unjust Nigeria federation, as depicted in the above quote from his last interview with TELL in the Bori military detention camp. Even though diminutive in stature, he was a cerebral colossus, with immense courage, verve and resolute determination. read more

Rejoinder: Ken Saro-Wiwa: A Playwright And Revolutionary, But A Man With Trading Instinct

Dear Editor,

Please see and publish the article below with above headline.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ben Ikari, author of Ken Saro-Wiwa and MOSOP: The Story and Revelation; Rights and Environmental Justice Advocate.

Dear Janet Anderson:

Thank you for taking the time to write these good words credited to you about Ken Saro-Wiwa in the headline above. It was reportedly published in the Tempo Newspaper Nigeria, on Jan. 2, 1996 though originally printed in the Daily Telegraph of Nov. 13, 1995.  Saro-Wiwa was, of course, the foremost minority rights crusader of Africa. He was a prolific and accomplished writer who authored more than 27 books. He also had several newspaper publications and position papers to his name; a non-violent and peaceful, intelligent, smart and witty world’s environmental martyr he was. He was truly altruistic. read more

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Says the decriminalization of the Ogoni martyrs has become a key demand of the Ogonis

Calls for an End to Ogoni Killings

Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has hinted of a roadmap to Ogoni development. MOSOP leader, Fegalo Nsuke gave the hint on Sunday at a commemorative church service at the Methodist Church, Wesley Cathedral in Bori, the traditional headquarters of the Ogoni people, to mark the 24th anniversary of Ogoni martyrs day, a day set aside to honor the fallen heroes of the Ogoni struggle including renowned author and environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa..

Nsuke did not give details of the roadmap but while addressing the church service hinted that “if we can have a Niger Delta Development Commission, a Niger Delta Basic Development Authority, then we can also have an Ogoni Development Authority” read more

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Esther Kiobel expresses her sincere thanks to Amnesty International and other parties supporting her Dutch lawsuit against Shell

A heartfelt message of thanks from Esther Kiobel

It has been a very hard road and long, long journey in the fight for fundamental rights of my late husband, Honorable Dr. Barinem Nubari Kiobel and other distinguished Ogonis who have suffered the most horrific abuses or murdered by the former Nigerian junta to help their exclusive collaborators. Shell Oil Corporation continue the exploitation of Nigerian crude oil resources under the most reckless human rights abuses ever imagined. read more

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SHELL RELATED EXTRACTS FROM AN ARTICLE BY JACOBIN PUBLISHED UNDER THE HEADLINE “THE NIGERIAN ACTIVIST WHOSE DEATH SHAMED SHELL”

AN INTERVIEW WITH ROY DORON / TOYIN FALOLA: 10 NOV 2019

Twenty-four years ago today, environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian state. His death brought international attention to the rapacious behavior of oil companies like Shell — and their complicity in the most violent forms of repression.

Born in 1941, Ken Saro-Wiwa came of age as Nigeria gained independence and became a lifelong advocate for the importance of minority rights within a unified national identity. A member of the Ogoni ethnic group, who at only half a million hold little sway in a country of two hundred million, Saro-Wiwa was central to mobilizing a popular movement that demanded accountability for companies like Shell that were extracting oil in the creeks of the Niger Delta. read more

“Cambridge University should not welcome Shell to do research, buy influence, and greenwash their reputation. Shell should be in the International Court of Justice, pledging to rectify the human and environmental damage that they have brought to Ogoniland. They should not be on campus at the University of Cambridge”.

by Zac Ntim: Tuesday November 5 2019, 3:09pm

The donation, which was not mentioned in Cambridge’s annual disclosures of its financial sources, will fund research into oil and gas extraction

Cambridge University has accepted a £6m donation from multinational oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell in March, The Guardian has revealed today.

The donation will fund research into oil extraction technology by a Cambridge University research group. This comes amid continued protests by students and staff calling on Cambridge to cut all investment and sponsorship relationships with fossil fuels companies.

Shell’s donation was approved by the University in March, however details were not included among other financial disclosures in July, when donations are typically announced. read more

Communities give oil firm quit notice

From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa: 3 Nov 2019

Hundreds of indigenes from 14 communities in Nembe and Brass local government areas in Bayelsa State at the weekend barricaded the offshore facilities belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to protest their neglect by the oil firm.

The angry stakeholders led by their chiefs, traditional rulers, youth leaders, women and community leaders, took their protest to the facilities of Oil Mining Licence (OML) 77-3D located in their territorial waters.

The protesters, who hail from the communities of Odioma, Ibidi, Ewoma, Okpoma, Twon Brass, Beletiama, Liama, Diema, Okumbiribeleu, Opu-Okumbiri, Oginibiri and Sangana, said the company should stop its operation and address their grievances to avoid breakdown of law and order. read more

The Archbishop of York has called for urgent action to stop the oil spills that are devastating communities in Nigeria’s Bayelsa state.

Speaking exclusively to the BBC ahead of the interim report of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, which he chairs, the archbishop said that a slow environmental genocide is taking place.

Bayelsa is the region where oil was first discovered in the country in the 1950s. There are hundreds of oil spills each year in Nigeria, some caused by equipment failure – others by sabotage. read more

A court in Rotterdam, Netherlands, has ruled against Shell’s attempt to prevent certain documents seized from its headquarters in 2016 from been used against it in a trial over its purchase of Oil Prospecting License (OPL 245).

Under Dutch rule, documents that have been examined by a lawyer and used to make internal recommendations in an organisation cannot be tendered in a trial against that firm based on a professional secrecy law.

Shell had tried to argue that its 15 internal lawyers had viewed the documents in question and deserve the professional secrecy cover. read more

• Merijn Rengers
• Carola Wood Room
• October 25, 2019

Justice is investigating bribery by Shell in Nigeria.

Oil company Shell cannot hide behind the professional secrecy of employees of its legal department in corruption and fraud investigations. The Rotterdam court reached that conclusion in a judgment published Friday afternoon.

The court sweeps the floor with Shell’s argument that the fifteen lawyers who are employed by the oil company in the Netherlands can invoke their professional secrecy. The reason for the judgment, which can have far-reaching consequences for major criminal cases, is a judicial investigation into bribery by Shell in Nigeria. read more

• Merijn Rengers
• Carola Wood Room
• September 30, 2019

The mysterious suitcase can finally be opened. For years prosecutors in the Netherlands and Italy have been waiting for a suitcase full of potentially incriminating documents about the involvement of the Shell and Italian oil companies Eni in a corrupt oil deal in Nigeria. The suitcase was seized by accident in Geneva in April 2016 and has since been the subject of a large number of legal proceedings.

They are now over, according to a judgment published this week by the federal court in Geneva. Both the Italians and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service therefore have access to the case, the Swiss public prosecutor tells NRC . read more