Dutch Court to Hear Nigerians Suit against Shell on pollution

Environmental rights group, Friends of the Earth International has said that Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell is to appear in a Dutch court to account for alleged environmental pollution in Nigeria. The court case against Shell's oil spills in Nigeria had been filed by four Nigerian plaintiffs in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Netherlands and supported by Friends of the Earth Nigeria.

Friends of the Earth International said in a release that Shell would appear in a Dutch court on October 11, to account for damage it caused abroad. Lawyers for both parties will plea at the key hearing in The Hague, while the court verdict is expected early in 2013.

In May 2008, four Nigerian fishermen and farmers from the villages of Goi, Ikot Ada Udo and Oruma, in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Netherlands / Milieudefensie and supported by Friends of the Earth Nigeria / ERA, started a legal case against Shell Nigeria and its parent company in the Netherlands.