This article is abridged from Oil Change International.
After legal battles lasting nearly 14 years, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has been forced to pay a US$15.5 million out-of-court settlement by a New York court.
Plaintiffs from the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta have successfully held Shell accountable for complicity in human rights atrocities committed against the Ogoni people in the 1990s — including the 1995 execution by the Nigerian government of writer and anti-Shell activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.
The settlement includes the establishment of a $5 million trust to benefit local communities in Ogoni. Shell has been one of the main companies extracting oil to the detriment of the local people and environment in Ongoni.
Ben Amunwa from the British-based Remember Saro-Wiwa project, said: "Let there be no doubt that Shell has emerged guilty. With this settlement, Shell is seeking to keep the overwhelming evidence of its crimes away from the scrutiny of a jury trial.
"Shell could not stand the bad publicity of a human rights trial. Global campaigners have helped to highlight Shell's abuses and we share this historic victory."
Steve Kretzmann, executive director of Oil Change International, said: "Despite this victory, justice will not be served in Ogoni and throughout the Delta until the gas flares are put out, the spills cleaned up, and the military stops protecting the oil companies and starts serving the people.
"This issue will not be solved until these legitimate grievances of the community are addressed."
The next phase of the struggle will take place in The Hague, Netherlands, where Royal Dutch Shell is headquartered. The company faces a legal action for repeated oil spills, brought by residents of the Niger Delta, with support from Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Friends of the Earth Nigeria.