Shell told to clean up Delta on 2nd anniversary of UNEP report
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Aug 5, 2013
It’s 8.30am and we are outside the Shell Centre doorstepping staff on their way into work. Another day, another Shell protest. The difference today is we are handing out sponges with a message on the back: “clean up the Niger Delta.” Some of the staff smile nervously as they approach us and some of them...
Memory Before Oil: A Niger Delta Village In the 1960s
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Jul 29, 2013
The picture above captioned as A Niger Delta Village In the 1960s (Before Oil) has sparked much discussion on online forums in Nigeria. While there have been debates about its veracity, what is interesting is the way that it provides a catalyst for people’s memories about the region before oil. Here is one comment that...
From the Niger Delta to the City of London: taking the fight to Shell
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Jun 5, 2013
There are moments sometimes when you are suddenly struck by the realisation that this is what life is about. I am not talking about being in the green fields at Glastonbury after a rather potent chai tea. I am talking about the feeling of a tiny, temporary re-balancing of the injustice of the universe –...
Supreme Court Ruling Blocks Human Rights Case Against Shell In The Niger Delta
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Apr 22, 2013
Last week, a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Company blocked relatives of murdered activists from the Niger Delta from bringing a case against Shell in the US using the Alien Tort Statute. Not only does this ruling prevent the families from seeking justice but it may also shield...
Oil company mega-profits and the dwindling public purse
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Feb 18, 2013
Yesterday, The Observer ran a story about George Osborne promising to crack down on multinationals avoiding tax in some of the world’s poorest countries. Anger over corporate tax avoidance at a time of massive cuts
to public spending has placed the issue on the political agenda, especially since widespread popular protest sparked by UK Uncut. The money...
Shell guilty: Court in the Hague orders Shell to pay compensation over oil spill in Nigeria
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Jan 30, 2013
It’s big news. For the first time, Shell has been found guilty in a court outside of the country in which it inflicted damage; in this case, in a court in the Hague for an oil spill in Nigeria. Shell will be forced to pay compensation to a farmer whose land and livelihood was ruined...
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...
Reflections on my first few weeks at Platform
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Dec 19, 2012
“What’s it like at Platform?” Since I started work here a few weeks ago this is the first question friends ask me when they see me. So far, I have failed to answer this question, offering a combination of mumbling, smiles and pregnant pauses. Where do you start? I spent the last 10 years working...
