Lagos, May 30, 2024 – A total of $142.5 million was paid to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) last year by The Shell Petroleum Development of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo).

A statement by Shell said SPDC paid $112.5 million, while SNEPCo remitted $30 million compared to $59.04 million by SPDC and $20.73 by SNEPCo in 2022.  

The contributions came from the Shell companies on behalf of themselves and their respective partners –.  Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC); TotalEnergies, EP Nigeria Limited; NAOC; and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited – as statutory contributions to the interventionist agency.

“Our support for NDDC is part of our aspirations for the development of the Niger Delta which has also seen a wide range of social investments, including health and education,” SPDC Director and Country Head, Corporate Relations Igo Weli said.

“With the continuous support of our partners, we will continue to discharge our obligations to communities through statutory payments to agencies and projects executed in partnership with stakeholders.”

Shell Companies in Nigeria have supported community development programmes in the country since the 1960s, benefitting many Nigerians.

Support for education has led to the award of more than 3,450 secondary school grants, 3,772 university grants and 1,062 cradle-to-career scholarship grants since 2016.

Another investment has seen the introduction of the Health-in-Motion programme, providing free medical services directly to communities.

Over one million individuals have benefited from the programme since its inception in the early 2000s.

Also, the global Shell LiveWIRE entrepreneurship programme supported 73 businesses through training and mentorship programmes leading to 97 employment opportunities for Nigerians.

The UK Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that it was too late for Nigerian claimants to file a lawsuit against two Shell l companies over an offshore oil leak from 2011, which they allege had a terrible long-term effect on the coastal region where they reside.

The lawsuit is related to the estimated 40,000 barrels of crude oil that leaked on December 20, 2011, as an oil ship was being loaded at Shell’s Bonga oil field, 120 kilometers off the southern Niger Delta coast of Nigeria.

Living in the delta, a group of 27,800 people and 457 villages have been attempting to file a lawsuit against Shell on the grounds that the ensuing oil slick damaged their lands and waterways, harming farming, fishing, drinking water, mangrove trees, and religious sites.

457 villages and a group of 27,800 people are suing Shell on the grounds that the ensuing oil slick damaged local lands and waterways, harming mangrove trees, holy sites, fishing, farming, and drinking water.

However, the Supreme Court affirmed decisions made by two lower courts that concluded the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit after a six-year legal period had passed.

Five Supreme Court justices unanimously rejected the attorneys’ claim that the pollution’s continued effects constituted a specific kind of civil tort known as a “continuing nuisance” in their decision. This would have shown that the six-year window was not in effect.

“The Supreme Court rejects the claimants’ submission. There was no continuing nuisance in this case,” said justice Andrew Burrows, delivering the ruling on behalf of the panel.

The Bonga leak was distributed offshore and had little impact on the beach, according to Shell, which refuted the claimants’ assertions. Because it was simply trying to resolve the legal question of nuisance, the court did not consider the facts in support of either side’s claims or reach a decision on the matter.

The Supreme Court’s decision would be binding on the hundreds of other parties who participated in the case in the lower courts, even though there were only two Nigerian individuals who filed an appeal in the case.