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From Spills to Silence: Shell Tries to Walk Away From Nigeria’s Poisoned Past
Shell has removed just 7% of the oil. The rest, it seems, is still marinating in the Niger Delta’s mangroves—turning creeks into carcinogenic soup and ruining the livelihoods of over 30,000 people.
Shell, the undisputed champion of greenwashing and environmental impunity, is once again back in court—but not, alas, to accept a long-overdue environmental award. Instead, it’s the latest chapter in one of the oil industry’s most brazen acts of negligence: the systematic poisoning of the Niger Delta, followed by nearly two decades of corporate denial and delay.
From 8 May to 21 May 2025, the High Court in London will hear the Bodo community’s final, desperate plea for environmental justice. This isn’t about new spills. It’s about two massive, uncontained oil spills in 2008—yes, seventeen years ago—that Shell’s then-subsidiary, SPDC, managed to turn into a masterclass in how not to clean up after yourself.
Despite Shell’s 2014 admission of responsibility and a £55 million payout, the actual clean-up operation remains a smouldering PR illusion. According to independent experts, Shell has removed just 7% of the oil. The rest, it seems, is still marinating in the Niger Delta’s mangroves—turning creeks into carcinogenic soup and ruining the livelihoods of over 30,000 people.
So what did Shell do next?
Naturally, it sold off its Nigerian onshore business.
In March 2025, Shell divested its subsidiary SPDC to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited (RAEC), a firm now left holding a literal and legal barrel of toxic sludge. The timing? Impeccable. The responsibility? Evaporating faster than Shell’s climate targets.
“Clean-Up” or Corporate Cosplay?
Shell insists the operation is “the largest of its kind in the world” and is “almost complete.” That’s great—except the Bodo community’s own independent testing, using internationally accredited labs, shows contamination still lingers like a bad oil slick at a PR summit.
Shell has refused requests for an independent review of its clean-up. Instead, the Bodo community had to commission its own, revealing widespread pollution and methods that do not meet international standards. But hey—why aim for best practice when the bare minimum is cheaper?
The total cost of a proper clean-up today? Estimated at nearly £500 million ($600 million USD). Which explains why Shell, ever loyal to its shareholders like BlackRock (still one of its largest investors), is in no rush to get out its wallet.
