Communities in Nigeria affected by oil spills want Shell to address pollution concerns before selling assets in the country
Nigerian communities are demanding 505 billion naira ($310 million) in damages from British energy giant Shell for repeated oil spills in the Niger Delta region, Reuters has reported, citing court documents.
The outlet said on Friday that over 1,200 representatives from the Ilaje local government area had filed a complaint with the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, accusing Shell of violating an existing court order by striking a deal to sell its onshore assets in the Niger Delta.
The oil firm announced in January that it was selling its onshore assets in Africa’s most populous nation in a deal worth $2.4 billion. The sale to the Renaissance Group – a consortium of five companies – is intended to streamline the operations of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Shell said at the time.
Activists and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, expressed outrage over the move and urged the Nigerian government not to approve the sale until Shell addresses environmental damage concerns.
READ MORE: Oil giant quits onshore sector in Africa’s largest economy
The British corporation has been operating in Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, for over 80 years, weathering multiple controversies and environmental disasters, having pioneered the country’s oil and gas industry since 1937. Thousands of locals have filed complaints, demanding compensation from the London-based energy giant for disrupting their livelihoods due to pollution from multiple spills.
Late last year, the UK High Court ruled that more than 13,000 farmers and fishers from the oil-producing communities of Ogale and Bille could sue the company for violating their constitutional right to a clean environment.
Shell has denied responsibility, blaming most of the leaks on pipeline sabotage and illegal crude oil extraction.
In the latest lawsuit, a group of communities in Ilaje, located in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria, have reportedly asked the Abuja court to halt the energy giant’s asset sale until a compensation dispute is resolved.
According to court papers cited by Reuters, they are pleading with judges to penalize Shell for proceeding with the deal “when the plaintiffs and the host of their community members have remained in perpetual suffering over the failure of the defendants to obey the preservative orders of a competent court.”
Locals in the coastal state have been at odds with the British corporation for more than a decade. In 2015, they accused Shell of excluding them from negotiations and compensation agreements reached with other communities affected by a spillage from the Bonga oil field in 2011.
https://www.rt.com/africa/604130-nigerians-sue-british-oil-giant-shell/
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Unit says Iran will consider the Israeli regime’s shelters “legitimate targets” if residential areas in the country come under attack.
In a post published on social media platform X on Tuesday, the IRGC said that any strikes on residential areas in Iran would give Iran’s armed forces the right to attack Israeli shelters in the occupied lands.
The IRGC stated that it has intelligence on the blueprints and the exact locations of these shelters.
Iran began its Operation True Promise 4 after the US and Israel launched their joint military aggression against the Islamic Republic in late February by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and several senior Iranian officials.
In its latest wave of attacks, the IRGC said it rained down missiles on the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
Iranian armed forces have also pounded American military bases and ...
In a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
The IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had carried out the 79th wave of its ongoing retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 against the Israeli and American targets.
Deploying powerful Kheybar Shekan, Emad, and Sejjil missiles alongside IRGC Aerospace Force kamikaze drones, the operation successfully breached the regime's multi-layered air defense systems, the statement said.
The missiles, it stated, targeted Israel’s intelligence facilities in northern and central Tel Aviv, as well as military commercial and support centers in Ramat Gan and the Negev.
The missiles also hit Israel’s southern military logistics and command headquarters in Beersheba.
The missile strikes triggered widespread panic across Israel and forced the suspension of a Knesset (parliament) session on Tuesday.
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announces staging the 78th wave of its underway retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, targeting such highly sensitive Israeli targets as Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Eilat as well as several US military bases in the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC described the latest phase of the operation as a significant development featuring missiles raining down on enemy targets as the nation was leveling momentous support behind the Islamic Republic by attending millions-strong rallies with "clenched fists."
'A distinct record'
The latest phase, it noted, "has set a distinct record in the timeline of the war."
According to the statement, targets in the occupied port of Eilat, Dimona, a heavily fortified city that hosts the Israeli regime's notorious nuclear reactor in its vicinity, and northern Tel Aviv were struck using Emad and multi-warhead Qadr missile systems along with attack drones.
This was the second time the Corps was hitting Dimona, ...
