By John Donovan

Esther Kiobel is one of three “Ogoni 9” widows whose collective case against Shell is currently moving forward in the Dutch courts. Esther is the lead plaintiff.

Esther accuses Shell of conspiring with a corrupt Nigerian military dictatorship in the murder of her husband Dr. Barinem Kiobel who, along with other members of the Ogoni 9, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, where all hanged on false charges. 

Esther has asked me to republish a related extensive report by the UNPO – the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization – published in February 1995. read more

CENTER FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT (CATHUD)
4711 W. Midlothian Turnpike, Unit 20, Crestwood, IL. 60418
~ Ph.: 708.761.0029 ~ Fax: 708.628.7015 ~

Email: [email protected]

August 25, 2019

OGONIS REJECT OIL RESUMPTION BEFORE CLEANUP

Preamble

Oil is the mainstay of the Nigeria economy, hence, the world should be appalled that a nation whose economy is dependent on the oil industry has no clear cut industrial laws, and laws that protect the oil-bearing communities from the enormous hazardous environmental side effects of gas flaring and oil spillages on peoples’, farmlands, swamps, streams, rivers, and the atmosphere. It is grossly unacceptable that some privileged Nigerians who sleep quietly thousands of miles away from the hazardous harms of oil production are the owners of oil wells and oil blocks in Nigeria. It is bemoaning and we find it unacceptable that President Mohammadu Buhari and his administration that claim to play by democratic rules have turned blind eyes to the death toll in Ogoni and the rest of the Niger Delta in preference to oil extraction by treating the environmental cleanup of Ogoni with levity. read more

Oil Resumption in Ogoni: Shell Group Plan Fresh Plots Against MOSOP

Printed below in italics is information and allegations received tonight from Ogoninews, Ogoniland. read more

Exxon, Shell cannot revive $1.8 billion Nigerian arbitration award – U.S. judge

5 Sept 2019

By Jonathan Stempel

NEWYORK (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday rejected Exxon Mobil Corp’s <XOM.N> and Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s <RDSa.L> effort to revive a $1.8 billion arbitration award against Nigeria’s state-run oil company, which stemmed from a dispute over a 1993 contract to extract oil near the African country’s coastline.

U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan cited public policy and due process considerations in deciding not to enforce the October 2011 award against Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC), which was subsequently set aside by courts in Nigeria. read more

While insisting that the attackers are known, Nsuke charged the government to end the attacks on Ogoni by asking Shell and the Nigerian industry as well as those who organized the Saakpenwa meeting of June 22, 2019, to halt the crazy push for oil resumption in Ogoni…

Printed below in italics is a press statement issued by one of the two competing organisations, both calling themselves MOSOP. The statement is from the MOSOP led by Fegalo Nsuke which is indisputably active, while the MOSOP led by Legborsi Saro Pyagbara (Wikipedia article) has an online presence, but otherwise appears to be dormant?

MOSOP kingdom coordinators and affiliate heads held at the organization’s headquarters in Bori, Ogoniland

PRESS STATEMENT

Oil Resumption Campaigners Behind Gangsters in Ogoni Says MOSOP

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has accused the campaigners for forceful oil resumption in Ogoni of patronizing criminal gangs that are currently terrorizing the Ogoni area. President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, made the declaration on Saturday, August 17, 2019 at a meeting with MOSOP kingdom coordinators and affiliate heads held at the organization’s headquarters in Bori, Ogoniland. read more

The people who some would say have sold their souls to a toxic oil company with an evil history. Back Row: Catherine J. Hughes, Sir Nigel Sheinwald GCMG, Euleen Goh, Gerrit Zalm, Linda G. Stuntz, Roberto Setubal, Ann Godbehere. Front Row: Jessica Uhl (CFO), Ben van Beurden (CEO), Charles O. Holliday (Chair), Tjalling Wiersma, and Gerard Kleisterlee

HOW TO GRAB MAXIMUM ATTENTION AT MINIMUM COST TO VENTILATE YOUR GRIPE OR CAMPAIGN AGAINST SHELL, WHETHER ON THE GROUNDS OF OPL 245 CORRUPTION, PLUNDER, POLLUTION, ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS, PERSONAL INJURY, OR ALLEGED COMPLICITY IN THE MURDER OF THE OGONI 9.

BECOME A SHELL INVESTOR AND GENERATE AWARENESS AT AN INVESTMENT COST OF JUST OVER £30. THAT MODEST INVESTMENT WILL ALLOW YOU TO RAISE A RUCKUS AGAINST ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC AT ITS AGM IN FRONT OF THE ASSEMBLED SHELL BOARD, SHELL SHAREHOLDERS AND THE NEWS MEDIA.

The information in italics comes from a Daily Mail article published on 12 August 2019.

You can buy shares through an AJ Bell Youinvest account online for £9.95, for example, with ongoing fees of up to £7.50 a quarter.

You need to purchase only one share in the company you want to target. A share in Shell currently costs £23.98…

Once you are a shareholder, you should be sent the firm’s annual report and other information for investors, which can also be found on its website.

You will also have the right to attend annual general meetings (AGMs) and vote on company policies. read more

Shell India’s inclusive culture sustains a diverse and engaged workforce

BY RAJIV SINGH: PUBLISHED: Aug 13, 2019 

In managing human resources, what may sometimes get overlooked is the human element. But Nitin Prasad, chairman of Shell in India, is not one to miss the larger picture.

Sample this. When asked what makes Shell one of the best employers in India, he says it’s the company’s 8,700 employees. Shell believes in collectively shaping a work environment that prioritises diversity and inclusion; promotes a culture of open innovation; observes equality for all genders and prioritises focus on ethical behaviour. read more

Guest Opinion: Jobs and health hazards: Don’t let Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ come to Pennsylvania

By Julieta Biegner, Global Witness: 13 August 2019

Today, President Trump is set to visit a Shell petrochemical plant where state subsidies cost $2.75 million per permanent job created.

The White House has made clear that it expects Pennsylvania to play a key role in its U.S. energy dominance agenda, citing the cusp of an “Appalachian Petrochemical Renaissance.” So it comes as no shock that Trump will visit a Beaver County petrochemical plant today.

The apparent purpose of the trip is to tout domestic manufacturing and energy production. read more

Printed below is a press statement issued by one of the two competing organisations, both calling themselves MOSOP. The statement is from the MOSOP led by Fegalo Nsuke which is indisputably active, while the MOSOP led by Legborsi Saro Pyagbara (Wikipedia article) has an online presence, but otherwise appears to be dormant?

PRESS STATEMENT

• Says government should respect Ogoni rights
  
• Calls for the Release of the detained reporter, Omoleye Sowore

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) says the struggle of the Ogoni people in Nigeria is for human rights and justice. A resolution of the MOSOP Central Committee, also known as the Steering Committee which serves as the highest decision making organ of the organization, called on the Nigerian government and people to respect the political rights of the Ogoni people to self-determination.

The Steering Committee which held at the MOSOP secretariat in Bori, traditional headquarters of the Ogoni people today, August 3, 2019, strongly rejected calls by agents of Shell for oil resumption in Ogoniland noting that the Ogoni environment cannot support oil mining at this time.

The Steering Committee resolved that oil resumption will lead to the death of the Ogoni people and therefore remain unacceptable to the people.

The Steering Committee expressed the desire of the Ogoni people to enter into dialogue with all parties to resolve all contentious issues which led to the exit of Shell from Ogoniland over 20years ago.

Addressing newsman shortly after the meeting, President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke said the Ogoni people are deeply committed to a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria where citizens rights are protected and all ethnic groups are treated equally.

Nsuke said “given our peculiar circumstances especially the Shell-backed state repression which led to the death of over 4,000 Ogonis, oil resumption will be resisted by the Ogoni people and  government response will be the usual deployment of soldiers who will shoot and kill the Ogoni people” He said to avoid further deaths, the Ogoni people have resolved not to support the resumption of oil mining in the land at this time”

Nsuke also said it was unjust that the resources of the Ogoni people be carted away to build the rest of Nigeria leaving the Ogoni people in the most terrible conditions.

The MOSOP president asserted that the easy way out of the problem is for the Nigerian government and people to respect the Ogoni people, treat them fairly by respecting their political rights to self-determination as demanded in the Ogoni Bill of Rights.

The MOSOP Steering Committee also condemned the arrest and detention of the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore. Describing the arrest of Sowore as an attempt to intimidate citizens from expressing their likes and dislikes, president of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke said citizens should enjoy the rights to peaceful expression including peaceful protests.

While calling for the unconditional release of Sowore, Nsuke noted that the “revolution protests” proposed by Sowore does not represent a threat to society but simply gives the government the opportunity to consider other views on what it does.

Signed:

Dcn Monday Neeka Ziinu

General Secretary, MOSOP

Headquarters: Peace and Freedom Center, Bori Ogoni

Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Website: www.mosop.org.ng

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mosoponline

Disclaimer

The views, information, allegations or opinions expressed above are those of the author/originator of the article. They have not been substantiated by the publisher of this website and may not represent the publisher’s views. read more

Appeal on Shell Pollution in Nigeria case to be heard by UK Supreme Court

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP: 2 August 2019

In a sign of the extent to which class actions have become part of the mainstream of English litigation, the Supreme Court has recently given permission to appeal in three cases brought by or on behalf of large groups of claimants in three completely different contexts.

The third appeal is in litigation brought by large groups of individuals against UK-based Royal Dutch Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary relating to alleged pollution from pipelines and associated infrastructure in Nigeria. In February 2018, the Court of Appeal held, by a majority, that the English court did not have jurisdiction to hear the claims, as the claimants could not demonstrate a properly arguable case that Royal Dutch Shell owed a duty of care to those affected – see Okpabi and others v Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 191, considered in this post on our Litigation Notes blog. read more

The Times: Supreme Court to hear Nigerian villagers’ battle with Shell

July 25, 2019

Residents of the Bille and Ogale areas of the Niger Delta are to take their battle with Shell over alleged pollution to the UK’s top court. Lawyers representing the two Nigerian communities confirmed yesterday that they had been granted leave to take the challenge to the Supreme Court. They argue the case should be heard in the English court because the oil company is headquartered in London and is legally responsible for the environmental failures of its subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. Daniel Leader, a partner at Leigh Day, the London law firm that represents the Nigerians, said: “The era of corporate impunity is drawing to a close. FULL ARTICLE (Paywall) read more

According to Shell’s records, the community has been impacted by at least 40 oil spills from Shell’s pipelines and equipment since 1989, including 23 spills in the past 4 years. Shell’s pipelines and infrastructure in Ogale are several decades old and in a poor state of repair making the area vulnerable to oil spills which have caused, and continue to cause, long-term contamination of the land, swamps, groundwater and waterways in the Community.

The Supreme Court hearing will appeal a judgment from February 2018, from the Court of Appeal in London, which upheld an earlier High Court judgment, that the English Court does not have jurisdiction over the claims.

Lawyers representing 40,000 Nigerian farmers and fisherman from two communities in the Niger Delta have been permitted to take their legal claim against the oil giant Shell to the UK Supreme Court.

The decision will allow the two communities from Bille and Ogale in the Niger Delta to appeal to the UK’s highest court, having suffered from decades of pollution from Shell’s pipelines.

They have taken their case to the English Courts on the basis that Royal Dutch Shell (RDS), which is headquartered in London, is legally responsible for the environmental failures of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), a subsidiary of RDS. read more

The decision to hear the appeal re-opens the possibility for British multinationals to be held liable at home for their subsidiaries’ actions abroad.

JULY 24, 2019

ABUJA, July 24 (Reuters) – The Supreme Court in London will hear an appeal by Nigerian farmers and fishermen to pursue claims in England against oil major Shell over oil spills in the Niger Delta, lawyers for the two affected communities said on Wednesday.

The decision to hear the appeal re-opens the possibility for British multinationals to be held liable at home for their subsidiaries’ actions abroad. It comes after a setback in February last year when a London court ruled that the claim could not be pursued in England. read more

In the corruption case, Eni and Shell are accused of buying Nigeria’s OPL 245 offshore oilfield in the knowledge that the vast majority of the $1.3 billion purchase price would be siphoned off to agents and middlemen in corrupt payments.

Emilio Parodi: JULY 4, 2019

MILAN, July 4 (Reuters) – Italian prosecutors are widening an investigation into suspected obstruction of justice by officials of oil group Eni, sources said, threatening to open a new legal front for the company as it defends itself in a major corruption trial.

The inquiry is preliminary and has been overshadowed by the ongoing trial, which centres on the 2011 purchase of a Nigerian oilfield by Eni and oil major Shell, but it is gathering momentum, said three sources familiar with the probe. read more

Italian prosecutors accuse former and current executives of the two energy giants of paying bribes to secure the licence. In March 2019, Dutch prosecutors said they were preparing criminal charges against Shell over OPL 245.

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK: JUL 18, 2019

According to Reuters, one of the oil industry’s biggest corruption trials revolves around a Nigerian offshore licence known as OPL 245, which Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s Eni bought in 2011.

Italian prosecutors accuse former and current executives of the two energy giants of paying bribes to secure the licence.

Shell and Eni, and their executives have denied the accusations and any wrongdoing.

Below are a list of legal actions that have arisen from the award of OPL 245: read more

Although Shell and ENI initially claimed they did not know the money would end up with Mr Etete and his cronies, evidence has shown that claim to be false.

Oladeinde Olawoyin: July 18, 2019

A major witness in the long-running Malabu oil scandal on Wednesday told an Italian court that Eni officials knew that the controversial payment made in the deal would go to Malabu oil company, controlled by Nigeria’s former oil minister, Dan Etete.

Vincenzo Armanna, former Eni manager and defendant in the corruption trial, said in his testimony that it was clear to everyone involved in the deal that Mr Etete would get over $1 billion, adding that there was no doubt the money was going to Malabu. read more