Rewriting the future: Achebe, literature, and activism
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Mar 25, 2013
Nigerian write Chinua Achebe died last Thursday at the age of 83. He is a key figure in world literature and a writer who along with others utterly changed the way cultures pre- and post-imperialism – and pre-missionary – imagined representing themselves. In so doing, he bolstered the challenge to western and white supremacist...
Shell on trial – landmark ruling on oil spills due this Wednesday
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Jan 28, 2013
This Wednesday a Dutch court will rule on whether Shell should clean up oil damage that destroyed a group of Nigerian farmers’ land in a landmark case that could lead the way for a spate of similar actions in the future. The farmers, whose land has been destroyed by oil from Shell pipelines, have travelled...
Oil companies gave cash and contracts to militants and warlords in Nigeria
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Aug 26, 2012
Shell and Chevron have funded armed militant groups in the volatile Niger Delta region of Nigeria since at least 2003, according to oil-industry sources and US embassy cables. Both oil companies have also paid ‘protection’ money to other hostile groups for decades. Platform’s new briefing, as reported in the Daily Mail, is called Fuelling the Violence: Oil...
AUDIO-FEST! Shell security spending hits the global airwaves
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Aug 25, 2012
Here’s a selection of interviews with Platform on Shell’s security spending in Nigeria. Packing these – and these – into a single day was a logistical challenge to say the least. But doing so meant reaching an audience of millions across several continents. Hitting the radio waves was particularly important for us, since the source...
Dutch MPs investigate Shell’s “irresponsible and unacceptable” security spending
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Aug 24, 2012
Following Platform’s publication of leaked internal data on Shell’s security spending in Nigeria and beyond, several Dutch MPs have submitted official questions to the Netherlands government, probing Shell’s record on human rights abuses. If only UK MPs would emulate their Dutch colleagues, we may actually see a measure of corporate accountability. Below is a rough...
Hold Shell to account for its human rights abuses in Nigeria
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Aug 22, 2012
Dear friends, Over the past 48 hours, Shell’s active role in human rights abuses in Nigeria has been exposed in a new Platform briefing: Dirty Work: Shell’s Security Spending in Nigeria. The briefing analyses financial data from Shell’s security department, leaked to Platform by a concerned ex-Shell manager. The leaked data covers three bloody years of...
Shell Security Spending Data Mapped on Guardian Data Blog
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Aug 22, 2012
Platform and the Guardian Data Blog have mapped Shell’s global security spending for 2008. The graphic is based on leaked internal financial data. You can find Platform’s full briefing on this issue here.
Exclusive interviews with Al-Jazeera on Shell’s security spending in Nigeria
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Aug 21, 2012
On 20 August, Al-Jazeera interviewed Platform researcher Ben Amunwa about the leaked data that revealed Shell’s deep financial links to human rights abusers in Nigeria. Unfortunately a technical hitch cut the first interview short. However, it’s worth watching, if only for the ‘shifty eyes’ at the end of the video as the line cuts out...
Data leak reveals Shell’s deep financial links to human rights abusers in Nigeria
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Aug 19, 2012
Shell spent at least $383 million on security in Nigeria between 2007 and 2009, according to company data leaked to oil watchdog Platform.[1] Shell’s leaked data is analysed in a new Platform briefing, Dirty Work: Shell’s security spending in Nigeria and beyond, which shows that a substantial amount of Shell’s security spending went into the...