Farmers from the Niger Delta, which has become synonymous with corporate misdeeds and corruption in recent years, have taken Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell to court in the Netherlands. The farmers claim the company destroyed their lands by neglecting to repair leaks which led to environmental degradation.

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The Niger Delta saw an estimated 7,000 oil spills between 1970 and 2000 and protests against the activity of oil companies in the region have been brutally repressed in the past, escalating the frequency and militancy of anti-oil industry activity. Numerous human rights abuses and incidences of ecocide have been reported in the region. The Delta’s waters have been poisoned, mangrove forests have been lost and fish populations have plummeted in recent years.

On Thursday (11th October), four Nigerian farmers, supported by international environmental organisation Friends of the Earth, brought a civil lawsuit against Shell relating to pollution in the Delta, which, if successful, could see numerous others follow. The case being heard this week focuses on damage to a Shell pipeline in 2005 and the environmental pollution which ensued. It is the first time Shell has been challenged in Dutch court over events occurring elsewhere in the world.

The case was filed in 2008, but it took until 2009 for the Dutch court to acknowledge the trial could take place in The Hague; Shell had argued its Nigerian subsidiary was legally responsible. The farmers claim Shell knew about the oil spill and failed to act on it, polluting their land.

The company refuses to admit liability and has not paid out compensation. Although Shell claims to have cleaned up the spill to the satisfaction of the Nigerian authorities, the farmers and Friends of the Earth contest this claim.

Eric Dooh, one of the plaintiffs, said outside court in The Hague on Thursday that in his village "If you are drinking water you are drinking crude, if you are eating fish, you are eating crude, if you are breathing, you are breathing crude." He continued, "What I expect today is justice; I expect that judges are going to proceed in this matter, have sympathy and look into our environment and tell Shell to apply the international standards where they are operating in Nigeria."

The case is expected to continue until the end of the year at the earliest.

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