By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on Wednesday ruled that it was too late for Nigerian claimants to file a suit against two Shell subsidiaries over a 2011 offshore oil spill they say had a devastating long-term effect in the Niger Delta where oil activities take place.
The case was one of a series of legal battles Shell has been fighting in London courts against the Niger Delta claimants, who insist that the impact of drilling activities has devastated their environment and means of livelihood.
The legal action against Shell follows the leakage of an estimated 40,000 barrels of crude oil on Dec. 20, 2011, during the loading of an oil tanker at Shell’s giant Bonga oil field.
A group of 27,800 individuals and 457 communities have accused Shell of being responsible for the pollution of their lands and waterways, damaging farming, fishing, drinking water, mangrove forests and places of worship.
The Court affirmed rulings of two lower courts which said the Claimants filed their case after the expiration of a six-year legal deadline for taking action.
A panel of five Supreme Court justices unanimously rejected their lawyers’ argument, that the ongoing consequences of the pollution represented a “continuing nuisance”, a technical term for a type of civil tort.
This would have meant that the six-year deadline did not apply.
“The Supreme Court rejects the claimants’ submission. There was no continuing nuisance in this case,” said justice Andrew Burrows, delivering the ruling on behalf of the panel.
Shell disputed the claimants’ allegations, saying the Bonga spill was dispersed offshore and did not impact the shoreline.
The court did not look at evidence supporting either side’s assertions or make a ruling on the issue, as it was only seeking to decide the legal point about nuisance.
The court has previously ruled against Shell in another case involving pollution in the Niger Delta.
In February 2021, it allowed a group of 42,500 farmers and fishermen from the Ogale and Bille communities to sue Shell over spills, and that case is currently going through the High Court.
In a separate case, Shell agreed in 2015 after a protracted legal battle in London to pay out 55 million pounds ($70 million) to Bodo community in compensation for two spills.
