UK Court Allows Niger Delta Community to Sue Shell Over Alleged Evidence Destruction

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A High Court in London has ruled that thousands of residents of Bille, an oil-producing community in Rivers State, can continue their legal action against Shell Plc and its former Nigerian subsidiary over alleged oil pollution between 2011 and 2013.

The court also allowed the community to pursue allegations that Shell obstructed the legal process by allegedly making misleading claims, deleting disclosure materials and destroying evidence relevant to the case.

Mrs Justice Lambert of the King’s Bench Division of the High Court gave the ruling in two related proceedings filed by residents of Bille and the community.

The judge rejected Shell’s attempt to stop the claimants from pursuing a broader case in which it may not always be possible to identify the exact oil spill responsible for particular environmental damage.

The court held that the claimants could argue that pollution in Bille resulted from oil escaping from Shell’s infrastructure, even where a specific spill cannot be identified, provided they can establish the claim through evidence and reasonable inferences.

The ruling also gives the claimants an opportunity to seek aggravated damages over allegations concerning Shell’s conduct during the litigation.

The case is expected to proceed to trial on May 4, 2027, after more than a decade of legal proceedings.

The claims relate to oil spills from pipelines, wellheads and other infrastructure operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, which has since been renamed Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited following Shell’s divestment of its onshore Nigerian assets.

The alleged pollution affected waterways, land and mangrove forests around Bille and Ogale in the Niger Delta.

Four sets of proceedings were initially filed between 2015 and 2017 by individuals and the Bille and Ogale communities.

A major part of the litigation initially focused on whether the cases could be heard by English courts. The issue was eventually settled in 2021 when the UK Supreme Court ruled in the Okpabi and others v Royal Dutch Shell Plc and another case that the claims could proceed in England.

The legal battle later shifted to the question of how the communities should prove that Shell’s activities caused the environmental damage.

The Bille claimants have now identified 106 oil spills allegedly linked to the pollution between 2011 and 2013. They said 60 of the incidents were recorded by Shell, while another 46 were identified through their own investigations.

The claimants have linked the incidents to alleged systemic failures, including poor infrastructure maintenance, inadequate leak detection and repair systems, and insufficient measures to prevent oil theft and illegal bunkering.

Their broader case also argues that some pollution may have resulted from oil escaping from Shell’s infrastructure, illegal third-party connections or illegal refineries.

Shell had opposed this wider argument, but the latest ruling allows the Bille community to present its case at trial.

The court’s decision means the community can continue pursuing its claims and allegations concerning the handling and preservation of evidence during the long-running legal dispute.