Nigerian Court Orders Shell to Pay $1.5 Billionin Reparations

[XXPANTHAXX]

Shell told to pay Nigeria's Ijaw

Shell facilities have been attacked in the Niger Delta

A Nigerian court has ordered oil giant Shell and its partners to pay $1.5bn
to the Ijaw people of the Delta region.

The Ijaw have been fighting since 2000 for compensation for
environmental degradation in the oil-rich region.

They took the case to court after Shell refused to make the payment
ordered by Nigeria's parliament.

Ijaw militants have staged a spate of attacks against Shell facilities
recently and are holding seven foreign oil workers hostage.

Following the violence, Shell - the biggest oil producer in Nigeria -
has halved its output from the country.

Shell says it believes there is no evidence to support the claim, and
will appeal against the ruling.

A statement said: "We remain committed to dialogue with the Ijaw people."


Warning

Lawyers for the Shell Petroleum Development Company argued in the
federal court in Port Harcourt that the joint committee of the National
Assembly that made the order in 2000 did not have the power to compel
the oil company to make the payment.

But Judge Okechukwu Okeke ruled that since both sides had agreed to go
before the National Assembly, the order was binding on both sides.

Ijaw community leader Ngo Nac-Eteli said that if Shell wanted to buy
time by taking the case to the appeal court, the company would not be
allowed to operate on Ijaw land until the case was settled.

He did not elaborate on how the community would stop Shell's operations.


The BBC's Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar in Port Harcourt says the case has
the support both of community elders and the militant groups that have
been attacking oil installations in the Delta region.

But our correspondent warns that even if the money is paid, the region
would not necessarily be pacified unless the various groups were happy
with how it was distributed.

Nigeria is one of the world's biggest oil exporters but despite its oil
wealth, many Nigerians live in abject poverty.

[Jahness]

Greetings XXPANTHAXX!

It's about time someone make these people start paying for their robbing the resources of Afrika and starving her children.

We all know that 1.5 Billion is but a drop in the bucket compared to what they have raked in continuously for centuries, those kkkrackkkas will still find a way to get off paying any damages at all.

Much appreciation to you for this update.

Peace & Blessings!