Photo retrieved from: www.aljazeera.net
“A British court has ruled that a Nigerian community devastated by oil spills can claim compensation in the UK from the energy giant Shell.
Royal Dutch Shell has already accepted responsibility and promised to pay some form of compensation for the spills, which took place in 2008 and 2009, destroying parts of the Bodo fishing communities in the Ogoniland region of the Niger Delta wetlands.
But Wednesday’s decision could open the company up to larger claims.
Shell said it does not comment on the legal process, which could take several months to reach a conclusion.
“SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria) has always acknowledged that the two spills which affected the Bodo community, and which are the subject of this legal action, were operational,” a statement from Shell said.
Leigh Day & Co, the lawyers representing the Bodo communities, who live in the snaking, oil-rich creeks and
waterways, said the case was the first of its kind because it would be handled under British jurisdiction.
“SPDC has agreed to formally accept liability and concede to the jurisdiction of the UK,” a statement on the law firm’s website said.”
Read more: Aljazeera
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