Secret Papers 'Show How Shell Targeted Nigeria Oil Protests'
'Confidential internal documents reveal how the oil giant lobbied The Guardian newspaper to reduce its support for Saro-Wiwa.'
Secret Papers 'Show How Shell Targeted Nigeria Oil Protests'
Documents seen by The Independent on Sunday support claims energy giant enlisted help of country's military government
Published on Sunday, June 14, 2009 by The Independent/UK
by Andy Rowell
Serious questions over Shell Oil's alleged involvement in human rights abuses in Nigeria emerged last night after confidential internal documents and court statements revealed how the energy giant enlisted the help of the country's brutal former military government to deal with protesters.
The documents, seen by the IoS, support allegations that Shell helped to provide Nigerian police and military with logistical support, and aided security sweeps of the oil-rich Niger Delta. Earlier this month Shell agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in a "humanitarian settlement" on the eve of a highly embarrassing US lawsuit.
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One former Shell employee, Kloppenburg Ruud, head of group security in the mid-1990s told lawyers that the deployment of Nigerian security forces at two Shell jetties in the delta was at the company's request.
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Confidential internal documents reveal how the oil giant lobbied The Guardian newspaper to reduce its support for Saro-Wiwa.
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