The recent judgment by the UK Appeal Court on the dispute between Shell and two Niger Delta communities underscores the need for people of the environmentally-polluted region to seek redress in disputes that do not require international arbitration within Nigeria’s judicial system. Some communities in the Niger Delta and other interest groups in the region have expressed frustration with the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal in London, which ruled that two Nigerian communities cannot pursue Royal Dutch Shell in English courts over oil spills in Nigeria’s Delta region. The court delivered the landmark judgment, which was, however, described in some circles as a revalidation of Nigeria’s undisputed sovereignty. In May 2015, UK solicitors, Leigh Day, brought oil spill claims in a UK court against the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) on behalf of the Ogale and Bille communities in Rivers State. The communities also sued Royal Dutch […]