A pot of £30m compensation due to be paid to thousands of African victims of toxic waste may end up being stolen thanks to the Ivory Coast regime's corruption, their lawyers said today.
The money was handed over by oil traders Trafigura in an out-of-court settlement in London and deposited in a bank in the west African state's capital, Abidjan, ready to be shared out in cash to each of the 30,000 victims. But the entire sum has been frozen in a sudden move backed by the local state prosecutor, according to Martyn Day, the senior partner at Leigh Day, the London lawyers who won the landmark settlement.
Moves are now in train, he said, to order all the cash to be handed over to a local group claiming to represent the victims. At the same time, Day has received a request to meet representatives of a senior Ivorian figure in Paris, to agree to come to an "arrangement".
"Blatant corruption" could be occurring, Day, who has flown back to London from Ivory Coast, said today. "There is a very serious risk that the compensation monies will simply disappear and our clients will see none of it." ...
The money was handed over by oil traders Trafigura in an out-of-court settlement in London and deposited in a bank in the west African state's capital, Abidjan, ready to be shared out in cash to each of the 30,000 victims. But the entire sum has been frozen in a sudden move backed by the local state prosecutor, according to Martyn Day, the senior partner at Leigh Day, the London lawyers who won the landmark settlement.
Moves are now in train, he said, to order all the cash to be handed over to a local group claiming to represent the victims. At the same time, Day has received a request to meet representatives of a senior Ivorian figure in Paris, to agree to come to an "arrangement".
"Blatant corruption" could be occurring, Day, who has flown back to London from Ivory Coast, said today. "There is a very serious risk that the compensation monies will simply disappear and our clients will see none of it." ...
Shell pays £9.7m to families of executed activist
Royal Dutch Shell sought to draw a line under one of the most damaging episodes in its history on Tuesday by agreeing to pay £9.7 million to Nigerians who accused the company of complicity in their relations' execution by a military regime.
By Mike Pflanz, West Africa Correspondent
Published: 4:45PM BST 09 Jun 2009
The out-of-court settlement comes 14 years after nine Nigerian activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, a playwright and prominent campaigner against Shell's presence in the Niger delta, were hanged by the country's military dictator, General Sani Abacha.
Their relations took legal action against Shell in America, intending to press their allegation of complicity, which the company denies. But an eleventh-hour agreement means the case will not come before the court in New York.
Shell said it was innocent of the charges, including the suggestion that it supported Nigeria's former military government when it arrested and executed the nine men.
But the company faces separate legal action in New York brought by another man from Mr Saro-Wiwa's Ogoni tribe, and in Amsterdam by a group of environmental activists.
"Shell will be dragged from the boardroom to the courthouse, time and again, until the company addresses the injustices at the root of the Niger delta crises and puts an end to its environmental devastation," said Elizabeth Bast of Friends of the Earth US.
In Nigeria, there was broad support for the agreement, reached late on Monday in New York. But there were also angry claims that Shell is still polluting the creeks of the delta, which produces more than 650,000 barrels of oil a day for the company.
Bari-Ara Kpalap, a spokesman for the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people, the organisation co-founded by Mr Saro-Wiwa, said that Shell continued to exploit Nigerian oil without giving proper compensation to the country's people. ...
Royal Dutch Shell sought to draw a line under one of the most damaging episodes in its history on Tuesday by agreeing to pay £9.7 million to Nigerians who accused the company of complicity in their relations' execution by a military regime.
By Mike Pflanz, West Africa Correspondent
Published: 4:45PM BST 09 Jun 2009
The out-of-court settlement comes 14 years after nine Nigerian activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, a playwright and prominent campaigner against Shell's presence in the Niger delta, were hanged by the country's military dictator, General Sani Abacha.
Their relations took legal action against Shell in America, intending to press their allegation of complicity, which the company denies. But an eleventh-hour agreement means the case will not come before the court in New York.
Shell said it was innocent of the charges, including the suggestion that it supported Nigeria's former military government when it arrested and executed the nine men.
But the company faces separate legal action in New York brought by another man from Mr Saro-Wiwa's Ogoni tribe, and in Amsterdam by a group of environmental activists.
"Shell will be dragged from the boardroom to the courthouse, time and again, until the company addresses the injustices at the root of the Niger delta crises and puts an end to its environmental devastation," said Elizabeth Bast of Friends of the Earth US.
In Nigeria, there was broad support for the agreement, reached late on Monday in New York. But there were also angry claims that Shell is still polluting the creeks of the delta, which produces more than 650,000 barrels of oil a day for the company.
Bari-Ara Kpalap, a spokesman for the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people, the organisation co-founded by Mr Saro-Wiwa, said that Shell continued to exploit Nigerian oil without giving proper compensation to the country's people. ...