[size=14pt]Shell not honest on oil leaks in Nigeria[/size]
By Ben Ezeamalu
June 25, 2010 05:20AM

The Friends of the Earth Netherlands, an international non-governmental organisation, have said that Shell, a multinational oil company, is refusing it and three Nigerians the right to inspect key documents that would offer more insight into the circumstances surrounding oil leaks from the company's oil pipelines in the Niger Delta.

The request for access is part of a lawsuit brought by four Nigerian farmers and fishermen and Friends of the Earth Netherlands against the oil company, charging the company with polluting the Delta region with oil.

The lawsuit, legally presented in a court of law in The Hague, where Shell's international headquarters is also located, consisted of three instances of oil leaks in the Nigerian villages of Oruma, Goi, and Ikot Ada Udo.

Request denied

Friends of the Earth Netherlands and the Nigerians submitted an exhibition request (request for disclosure) in court, where inspection of thirty internal Shell documents was requested.

According to the non-governmental organisation, the oil company refused on purely legal and formal grounds to release any of the documents. It also alleged that Shell denied the existence of some of the requested documents, such as the journals required by Nigerian law, which would have revealed the day-by-day reports of the effects of the oil leaks.

Geert Ritsema, international spokesman for Friends of the Earth Netherlands, said that the residents in the oil rich communities have been forced to live in the filth left behind by the company, with no source of income for years now.

"This refusal is typical for Shell. The company simply refuses to take any real responsibility for creating massive oil pollution in Nigeria. Shell consistently imposes various judicial obstacles in its attempt to essentially prevent the case from being heard before a judge. Meanwhile, it has steadfastly refused to seriously invest in a region that it has used until the present day as a cash cow with impunity," he said.

Special session

Friends of the Earth said that with the documents they have requested, they want to bring to light additional evidence to support the chief argument in their lawsuit - that Shell's Dutch headquarters is ultimately responsible for its Nigerian subsidiary, and thus, also for the leaks covered in the lawsuit. Requests have also been filed to inspect documents concerning specific leaks that occurred in the villages of Oruma and Goi.

They also said that their lawyer is going to request a special session in a court of law in The Hague, where Shell will be required to explain why it has refused to produce any of the requested documents.

"Shell is now creating the impression that it has something to hide," Mr. Ritsema pointed out. "If the company is so convinced that it is not doing anything wrong in Nigeria, why not just make public the very documents that could prove this?"

Friends of the Earth Netherlands has estimated that the amount of oil that has leaked into Nigeria's environment over the past fifty years is almost five times the amount of oil that the BP platform has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico thus far.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5585166-146/shell_not_honest_on_oil_leaks.csp

Shell also ordered the death of Saro Wiwa for poking too far and demanding human rights; and the federal govt killed him and 8 others.