On June 8^th, the oil giant Shell, reached a settlement of US$ 15.5 million in a case brought against it in the USA by 10 Ogoni activists who accused the Anglo-Dutch company of complicity in the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni community leaders in

1995.

I remember very well when Ken Saro Wiwa was killed by hanging in 1995. I used to work for the Italian Section of Amnesty International in Rome and his case was one of the most prominent ones I dealt with during my two-year tenure with Amnesty Italy. What I remember most was the agony that led up to his dramatic death and that of his fellow compatriots.

This was the first time I worked on a social justice issue that meant life or death for someone. I felt part of a global movement that tried to bring to the attention of the world the gross human rights violations going on in the Niger Delta, all in the name of oil. In Italy, we sent out press statements and mobilized thousands of people to peacefully march in front of the Nigerian Embassy and the Shell offices in Rome.

It was the then government of President Sani Abacha that arrested and later killed Ken Saro Wiwa and the other 8 activists. Since Shell was, and still is, a major player in the oil industry of Nigeria, we knew they had enormous leverage on the Nigerian government. If they wanted to, they could have prevented that senseless murder. Instead, they chose to do nothing and the lives of 9 innocent people were brutally taken.

The impact of that death was enormous for the Ogoni people who were robbed of their most outspoken leader. As human rights activists all over the world, we felt impotent and defeated. It did not matter that world leaders asked President Abacha to spare the life of Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 8. Until the very last minute leading up to the execution, we were hoping Abacha would see the light of day and grant the activists clemency. I, like many others, did not sleep that night and when we got the news that they had been executed we felt deeply crushed.

The environmental degradation of the Niger Delta remains appalling, and to this day the Ogoni people see little of the benefits that accrue to the oil companies that exploit the region and to the central Nigerian government. Gas flaring, one of the worse side effects of the oil exploitation in the Niger delta, remains common practice regardless of the environmental health impact it has on the people living there.

With this out of court settlement Shell does not admit it did anything wrong but it is clearly a way of ensuring its long-term presence in the delta. In the words of Malcolm Brinded, a Shell Director, “While we were prepared to go to court to clear our name, we believe the right way forward is to focus on the future of the Ogoni people.”