The UK Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Nigerian residents against two Shell subsidiaries over the 2011 Bonga oil field leak.
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The claimants argued that the consequences of the pollution constituted a “continuing nuisance.” The Supreme Court in dismissing the appeal, rejected the claimants’ submission, stating the leak “was a one-off event or an isolated escape”.
Justice Andrew Burrows went on to add that the “oil pipe was no longer leaking after size hours.”
The incident had occurred on December 20, 2011, while an oil tanker was being loaded at the company’s Bonga oil field, 120 kilometers off the Delta coast. It is estimated that 40,000 barrels of crude oil leaked during that time.
Following the oil spill, a group of 27.800 individuals and 457 communities have been trying to sue Shell, claiming that their farms, fishing waters, drinking water, mangrove forests and religious shrines were damaged as a result of the oil slick polluting their lands and waterways, and subsequently deprived them of their livelihoods.
Shell disputed the allegations and said the Bonga spill was dispersed offshore and did not impact the shoreline.
Two Nigerians filed an appeal with the Supreme Court in London after two lower courts ruled that it was too late to sue the British multinational because the six-year deadline for taking action under English law had expired.
The plaintiffs first issued their claim form on December 17, 2017, just under six years after the incident, and sought to make amendments in April 2018. The appellants alleged that the spilled oil had migrated from the offshore Bonga oil field to the Nigerian Atlantic coast, where it had a devastating impact.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld rulings by two lower courts that found the plaintiffs had brought their case after the six-year legal expiry date.
According to the Reuters news agency, the court did not look at the evidence supporting either side’s assertions or make a ruling on the issue. It only decided the legal point of nuisance.
Although there were only two Nigerian appellants in the Supreme court, Shell said the Supreme Court ruling will also apply to other cases brought before British courts in connection with the leakage, according to Reuters.
The Nigerian government had in 2016 sued Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, demanding N1.3 trillion in compensation for communities affected by the 2011 Bonga oil spills.
In February 2021, the Supreme Court allowed a group from the Ogale and Bille communities to sue Shell over spills, and that case is currently through the High Court.
At that time, Shell said it was not responsible for most of those spills and said they were caused by illegal third-party interference.
In a separate case in 2015, Shell agreed to pay 55 million pounds ($70m) to the delta’s Bodo community in compensation for two spills after a legal battle in London.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
