Environmental Rights activists have expressed satisfaction with the judgement of the Court of Appeal in the Hague Netherlands for ordering the oil giant Shell Petroleum Development Company to pay compensation in a case brought by four farmers for widespread pollution on their land.
The judgement was held at far away Hague Netherlands via virtual court sitting.
The rights activists in a meeting with journalists in Port Harcourt say it is high time we held multinational oil companies accountable for their misdeeds
Fidelis Guru, an old blind man from Bayelsa state was among the four farmers who sued the oil giant shell petroleum development company to a Dutch court in the Hague Netherlands for an oil spill that occurred and destroyed their farmlands making life unbearable for them
Fidelis says it was the oil spill that got him blind. However, after thirteen years of legal battle against shell, justce has finally be served to Fidelis and others as the court of appeal in the Hague Netherlands, has ordered the multinational oil giant to pay compensation to the farmers
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The environmental rights activists, while commending the judgement at the Dutch court say the victory is for the people of Niger Delta region who have suffered environmental pollution and degradation in the hands of the multinational oil company
The court also mandated shell to stop any further pollution in the two communities of Goi in Ogoni Rivers State and Yiba Ama community Ogbia land in Bayelsa state.
The environmental Rights Activists described the Hague Court Judgement as a landmark success and historic.
With this judgment handed down against the oil giant, it is hoped that shell will obey the judgement which is coming from its home country and take caution against further pollution in the Niger Delta Region
Editor Paul Akhagbemhe
