Amnesty calls on UK and others to investigate Shell over Nigeria crimes

A human rights group has called on Nigeria, the UK and the Netherlands to launch investigations into Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell over its role in crimes committed by the Nigerian military government in the oil-producing Ogoniland region in the 1990s.

Amnesty International has released a review of thousands of pages of internal company documents and witness statements, as well as its own archive from the period.

Audrey Gaughran, director of Global Issues at Amnesty, said: “The evidence we have reviewed shows that Shell repeatedly encouraged the Nigerian military to deal with community protests, even when it knew the horrors this would lead to – unlawful killings, rape, torture, the burning of villages.

“In the midst of this brutal crackdown Shell even provided the military with material support, including transport, and in at least one instance paid a military commander notorious for human rights violations. That it has never answered for this is an outrage.

“It is indisputable that Shell played a key role in the devastating events in Ogoniland in the 1990s, but we now believe that there are grounds for a criminal investigation.

“Bringing the massive cache of evidence together was the first step in bringing Shell to justice.

“We will now be preparing a criminal file to submit to the relevant authorities, with a view to prosecution.”

In June 2017 the widows of four of the men filed a writ against Shell in the Netherlands, accusing the company of complicity in their deaths.

Amnesty’s new report “A Criminal Enterprise?” makes the case that Shell was involved in crimes committed in Ogoniland in this way.

Shell has always denied that it was involved in the human rights violations, but there has never been an investigation into the allegations.