A couple of Nigerian communities have been given permission to hold Royal Dutch Shell responsible over multiple oil spills in Niger Delta under the jurisdiction of a British court.
The lawsuits were the latest of the series of international litigation that Shell has to face for environmental damage stemming from its Nigerian operations.
Leigh Day, an environmental law firm which represents the two communities, said that the proceedings should be held in British courts because the oil spills have persisted for decades in Nigeria without being addressed.
"The Nigerian courts cannot deal with these cases," said Daniel Leader, a partner at law firm Leigh Day.
"This would clearly be a very important precedent because it would mean that Shell could be held to account, not only in Nigeria, but also in the jurisdiction of the parent company for its environmental record," he added.
A spokesperson for Shell said in a statement that, the cases should be tried in Nigeria and that it would challenge the jurisdiction of English courts.
"We believe that allegations concerning Nigerian plaintiffs in dispute with a Nigerian company, over issues which took place within Nigeria, should be heard in Nigeria," the spokesperson added.
It also rebutted that asking the English court to intervene will be a direct challenge to the internal political acts and decision of the Nigerian state.
Moreover, Shell defended that there was a sabotage and oil theft involved in the ongoing pollution and it had stopped oil production since 1993 in Ogale, the area where the two communities are located in Nigeria's oil-rich southern Niger Delta.
According to Leigh Day, it stated that the 40,000-strong Ogale community in Rivers State, believed that successive spills since 1989 have meant they do not have clean drinking water, farmland or rivers.
Whereas, the Bille community claimed Shell should be liable for "failing to protect their pipelines from damage caused by third parties," which is representing the two communities.
Amnesty International's UK Economic Affairs Program Director, Peter Frankental, said, "Shell has an appalling record of obfuscation and misinformation with regard to its dealings in the Niger Delta. Our briefing reveals just how irresponsible Shell has been in its operations in the region."
He also said that it is disgraceful that Shell has to be dragged to the courts to address the issues. He feared that the money, health, livelihood and emotional anguish of the affected communities could have been spared had Shell simply accepted responsibility and cleaned up the oil spills quickly and thoroughly.
Amnesty International said in November 2015 report that, an investigation showed Shell had failed to clear four oil-spill sites in the Niger delta, months after President Muhammadu Buhari said he's accelerating a clean-up of the area.
