by Han Shan, ShellGuilty

It’s hard to believe that after more than thirteen years, oil giant Shell will finally stand trial two weeks from today to answer to charges that it conspired with the Nigerian military to crush peaceful resistance by the Ogoni people to the company’s degradation of their homeland.

Ken Saro-Wiwa

Many people are aware of the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, author, environmentalist, and leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). His arrest and eventual hanging on November 10, 1995 caused a great outcry around the world. From the first days after Saro-Wiwa was arrested and held without charges, his son Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. has been an eloquent spokesperson, first demanding his father’s release, then speaking out about Shell’s terrible role in his father’s murder, and more recently speaking of the need for an accounting of what happened in order for the aggrieved people to be able to move forward with their lives:

“We need to know the truth. We need to have people account for their role in the executions and the displacement of the Ogoni people, many of whom feel traumatised. It will be a relief. It will enable people to face the future. That’s the most important thing. Let’s account for the past, so we can move forward.”

For over thirteen years, Ken Jr. has waited for justice for his family and his sons who will never know their martyred grandfather.

But Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged along with eight others, and his killing was the culmination of a horrific campaign of violent suppression of the Ogoni people that resulted in countless killings, beatings, arrests, and the wholesale destruction of villages throughout the Ogoni region.

For over thirteen years, the families of Ken Saro-Wiwa’s murdered colleagues have waited for justice. Their fathers and brothers were executed by the Nigerian military after a tribunal at which Shell bribed witnesses to provide false testimony and help secure convictions for crimes the men didn’t commit.

Karololo Kogbara

For over thirteen years, a poor farmer named Karololo has waited for justice. Her livelihood was forever stolen by Nigerian soldiers working with Shell, who shot her when she cried out over the fact that her crops were being bulldozed to make way for Shell pipelines. Her arm was amputated and she hasn’t been able to farm since.

For over thirteen years, the brother and children of a young man from a small village called Korokoro has waited for justice. Brother and young father Uebari N-nah was shot and killed by soldiers requested and later compensated by Shell, during a peaceful protest near a Shell flow station.

In two weeks, when the trial begins, Shell’s lawyers will probably say that it’s regrettable that these people were killed, or shot, or beaten, or tortured, or had their livelihoods stripped away. “But Shell had nothing to do with it,” they’ll say.

But the evidence is voluminous. And damning. Shell’s cozy relationship with a succession of Nigerian dictators and corrupt government officials is well-documented. And in these specific incidents, Shell called in soldiers. Shell transported them. Shell paid them. Shell sent letters asking the military to deal with Ken Saro-Wiwa. And Shell held meetings with the military to discuss how to spin their campaign of repression.

Finally, in a United States court, Shell’s roles in the crimes committed against the Ogoni people will come to light. Whether Shell is held liable by the jury, and whether Shell ever comes clean about the shameful acts it conspired to perpetrate is anyone’s guess.

But even if “justice” is found in the courtroom, too many people of the Niger Delta continue to suffer the terrible impacts of fifty years of Shell’s operations in their land.

ShellGuilty is organizing to demand an end to one of the key abuses that MOSOP campaigned against – and ultimately Ken Saro-Wiwa and others died struggling to stop – gas flaring. The practice of burning off associated natural gas that comes to the surface during oil production creates giant toxic plumes of flame containing poisonous chemicals dangerous to local communities, and emits enormous amounts of greenhouse gases that are a significant contributor to global warming.

If you haven’t already, please take action to tell Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer to stop gas flaring now. And then sign up to receive email updates and action alerts from us. A week from today, May 19th, is Shell’s shareholders meeting. It takes place in the Dutch capital, The Hague, with a simulcast in London. From May 19th until the start of the trial on the 26th, we’re calling for a week of action to turn up the heat on Shell.

Stay tuned to Shell Guilty.com for more info and we’ll be emailing our list about it soon so make sure you’re signed up. We’ll be in touch.