February 18, 2019

Let justice prevail in the Ogoni widows versus Shell case

located:	Nigeria
editor:	Bob Koigi

In what could shape up to be a historic precedent in holding corporations legally responsible for participation in human rights abuses, four Nigerian widows have sued Dutch oil giant Shell for being complicit in their husbands’ execution, a legal battle that has spanned over 22 years.

The widows blame the oil corporation for having a hand in the torture, unlawful detention and murder of their husbands by the Nigeria military in 1995.

At the time, their husbands were protesting against the wanton pollution of the fertile land in the Niger Delta as Shell prospected for oil. The oil spills left the lives of the over 500,000 Ogoni people who reside in the area devastated, as farmlands and rivers remained contaminated with thousands of lives exposed to serious health risks.

Shell continued with its activities unperturbed, and the Ogoni movement led by activist Ken Saro Wiwa, which was formed to protest Shell’s damage to a people’s livelihood and the environment was met with brutal force, which saw nine activists executed, an event that caused global outcry and saw Nigeria suspended for over three years from the Commonwealth.

Barinem Kiobel was one of those executed, and his wife Esther Kiobel has since been travelling the long legal journey in pursuit of justice, remaining unbowed 22 years later. The case, which was initially dismissed by a U.S. court on the grounds of jurisdiction, has now moved to the doorsteps of the oil multinational in the Netherlands. Esther is seeking an apology from Shell and compensation for the tough life she and numerous other families were subjected to since Shell started operations in Niger Delta. “Shell came into my life to make me a poverty-stricken widow,” she told the court that started hearing the case last week. Shell has denied any culpability in the murder of the environmental activists and even says it appealed for clemency.

As this David versus Goliath face-off now goes full throttle in front of the world's glare, the tenets of international law to protect fundamental human rights must be the guiding light. There have been numerous cases of corporate human right abuses that have not been exposed to the international community while the affected communities remain helpless and voiceless. In a system where these fundamental rights continue to be abused by power and resources, the judicial system remains the shield and defender of those with no might. The Ogoni people deserve justice and closure.

READ about Shell in the Niger Delta in our Dossier Eco-Crimes

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