Nigeria: London test case for Shell claimants

A four-day hearing opened in London’s High Court on 21 November to decide whether the English courts can hear two legal claims on behalf of over 40,000 Nigerians against Royal Dutch Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria for environmental damage caused by oil pollution in the Niger Delta.The first claim is being brought on behalf of 2,335 individuals from the Bille Kingdom, mostly fishermen who claim their environment has been devastated by oil spills over the past five years.