Shell Set to Face UK Trial Over Devastating Nigerian Oil Spills
- Judge says he won’t strike out claims by two communities
- Shell won similar case earlier this year in UK Supreme Court
Oil pollution of an estuary in Ogoni, Nigeria.
Photographer: George Osodi/Bloomberg
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A UK court ruled that a group of Nigerian fishermen can bring claims against Shell Plc over oil pollution that devastated their communities, as a long-running legal case edges closer to a trial.
The 13,000 fishermen from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta region claim that Shell breached their right to a clean environment under Nigerian constitutional law, according to an emailed statement Thursday from their law firm Leigh Day. The court ruling published Wednesday deals with procedural issues before a trial in a case that’s been going on for eight years.