FOR THE RECORD: UK Court Blocks Nigeria Oil Pollution Case Against Shell; 40,000 Nigerians To Appeal — Lawyers

Oil spills in the Niger Delta have killed all the fish in some places. BBC

The High Court in London has ruled that two polluted communities in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta region cannot seek redress against oil giant Shell in the UK.

BBC News report continues:

The court agreed with the multinational's argument that the case, affecting more than 40,000 people, should be heard by local courts in Nigeria.

Two communities in the Niger Delta - the Ogale and Bille - allege that decades of oil spills have polluted their fishing waters and contaminated their farmland.

But Mr Justice Peter Fraser stated that the case against Royal Dutch Shell, and its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, did not have the prospect of success and therefore could not proceed.

In 2015, Shell agreed to an US$84m (£55m) settlement with residents of the Bodo community in the Niger Delta for two oil spills.

Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, traditional ruler of the Ogale community, believes his people will not get justice in the Nigerian courts. AFP

Meanwhile BBC Africa Live reports Lawyers for more than 40,000 Nigerian villagers will appeal against a UK court judgment barring them from suing oil giant Shell.

The Leigh Day law firm said that Mr Justice Peter Fraser had made the judgment at an early stage in the litigation, before any documents were disclosed and without hearing oral evidence from witnesses about the relationship between Royal Dutch Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary. 

The Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta allege that they have suffered systematic and ongoing oil pollution for years because of Shell’s operations.

Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, traditional ruler of the Ogale Community, said he was “disappointed but not discouraged” by the judgement, the AFP agency reports.

"This decision has to be appealed, not just for Ogale but for many other people in the Niger Delta who will be shut out if this decision is allowed to stand.

Shell is simply being asked to clean up its oil and to compensate the communities it has devastated."

Mr Okpabi told AFP in November that it would be difficult to win in a Nigeria court as he alleged the legal system there was corrupt.