Shell settles lawsuit alleging role in killings

NEW YORK – Royal Dutch Shell agreed to a $15.5 million settlement Monday to end a lawsuit alleging the oil giant was complicit in the executions of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and other civilians by Nigeria’s former military regime.

Shell, which continues to operate in Nigeria, said it agreed to settle the lawsuit in hopes of aiding the “process of reconciliation.” But Europe’s largest oil company acknowledged no wrongdoing in the 1995 hanging deaths of six people. “This gesture also acknowledges that, even though Shell had no part in the violence that took place, the plaintiffs and others have suffered,” Malcolm Brinded, Shell’s executive director of exploration and production, said in a statement.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York claimed Shell colluded with the country’s former military government to silence environmental and human rights activists in the country’s Ogoni region. The oil-rich district is in the southern part of Nigeria and covers about 400 square miles.

The lawsuit said in the 1990s, Shell officials helped furnish Nigerian police with weapons, participated in security sweeps of the area, and hired government troops who shot at villagers protesting the construction of a pipeline.

The plaintiffs also say Shell helped the government capture and hang Saro-Wiwa, John Kpuinen, Saturday Doobee, Felix Nuate, Daniel Gbokoo and Dr. Barinem Kiobel on Nov. 10, 1995.

Besides compensating the families, the money from Shell will pay for years of legal fees. And roughly a third of the settlement will create a trust that will invest in social programs in the country.