London court blocks Shell from paying ‘peanuts’ to Nigerian community

A High Court in London, has blocked an agreement between oil giant, Shell, and a UK law firm, CW Law, in relation to over 7,000 claims of Nigerians, which the Marble Arch-based law firm claimed it represented on a dispute over oil spills in Nigeria.

Justice Akenhead, the President of the Technological and Construction Court, blocked the deal and upheld an injunction against CW Law which prevented them, or anyone representing them, from making contact with the people of Bodo in furtherance of the settlement agreement.

According to Premium Time , the judge made it clear that Leigh Day, a London-based law firm, was proceeding with the case to trial in the High Court in 2015 and that many thousands of claimants were entitled to damages under the Oil Pipelines Act which could be substantial.

Shell is accused of two leaks from its pipelines between 2008 and 2009, which devastated the environment in Bodo, a community in Rivers State.

Majority of the community people were subsistence fishermen and farmers, until 2008 when the spills occurred.

The spills destroyed the community’s fishing industry, according to Leigh Day.

Over 1,000 hectares of mangrove have been destroyed, with an additional 5,000 hectares impacted since the spill, experts say.