Shell funds clashes in Nigeria: exclusive interviews with Platform

BBC Business Daily conducted an in-depth interview with researcher Ben Amunwa about Platform’s new report, titled Counting the Cost, on Shell’s human rights abuses in the Niger Delta. Shell were invited to the interview but refused to attend. The BBC World Service broadcast the interview to hundred millions of listeners worldwide this morning. You can...
Shell sponsors oil clean up competition

Shell sponsors oil clean up competition

I challenge anyone to find a more cynical example of corporate sponsorship than this one. (Thanks to @Adammaanit in Brighton and @MsVanessaMurray in Australia for bringing it to our attention). In the same week that Shell was condemned by the UN for its devastating oil spills in Ogoni, and admitted liability for 2 massive spills in Bodo village in the...

The long struggle for justice in Ogoni

US-based EarthRights International (ERI) use the law to defend human rights and the environment. They recently posted up their perspective on Shell’s admission of liability for oil spills in Bodo, Ogoni.  ERI’s super-hot legal team worked with other leading human rights advocates to hold Shell accountable for its active involvement in crimes against humanity in Ogoniland in the 1990s....

The struggle for justice in Ogoni

Here is a heartfelt comment piece in The Guardian on the local reaction in Ogoni to Shell’s oil spill payout. Shell has admitted liability but has a long way to go to make amends Oil spills destroyed my village in Nigeria and decades of environmental and social injustice are still to be addressed. By Patrick...

Breaking: Delta Activists Respond to UNEP Report

Below is a press release from ERA/FoE Nigeria, in response to UNEP’s publication – in the last half hour – of its report on the ecological impact of oil spills in Ogoni. Local activists argue that UNEP’s recommendation for a $1 billion fund for restoration in Ogoni is a token. 4 August 2011 UNEP Report:...
The Biggest Oil Spill in the World

The Biggest Oil Spill in the World

PLATFORM featured on Channel 4 News this evening, providing analysis on two current news stories – the revelations of the full extent of environmental devastation in Ogoni land contained in the UN’s new report, and Shell’s admission of liability for two recent oil spills in Bodo, Ogoniland. Campaigner Ben Amunwa helped provide background research as the story...
Breaking: Shell admits liability for 2 oil spills in Nigeria

Breaking: Shell admits liability for 2 oil spills in Nigeria

In a potentially ground-breaking development, The Guardian reported today that Shell has accepted liability for two massive oil spills which devastated farmland in Bodo, Ogoniland in 2008. Shell faces a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars after accepting full liability for two massive oil spills that devastated a Nigerian community of 69,000 people and may...

UN Blames Media for Shell Scandal

UNEP has found another person to blame for its troubles in Ogoniland: it’s all the media’s fault. After presenting Shell’s disputed oil spill data as fact, the Port Harcourt-based team of 100 scientists denied allegations that their report will clear Shell of responsibilty for the majority of oil spills. Nick Nuttal, spokeperson for UNEP, blamed...

Amnesty & FoE Slam UN’s Reliance on Shell Data

Today Amnesty International joined the chorus of disapproval and outrage at UNEP’s decision to clear Shell of all responsibility for oil spills in Nigeria. UNEP has been widely criticised for recently using Shell data to announce that the company is only 10% responsible for the causes of oil spills. “Relying on these figures would be...