Niger Delta groups warn Shell shareholders of unreported pollution liabilities and legal risks ahead of AGM
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
Niger Delta groups and their international civil society partners are warning that Shell plc has failed to disclose in its 2025 Annual Report the legacy pollution and harmful health impacts in Nigeria and the financial and legal risks they pose to shareholders. Nigerian civil society groups and international allies will attend Shell’s AGM on May 19 to press management on these critical questions.
When will Shell stop prioritising profit over public health? Our findings from the blood tests of 80 women in Otuabagi, show hydrocarbon levels more than 8000 times above World Health Organization permissible limits. The Bayelsa Oil and Environment Commission tested the blood of 1600 persons and all had hydrocarbons in their blood too. Women are suffering from respiratory diseases, fertility problems, breast cancer, eyesight impairment, among many others! Shell cannot divest without clean-up and remediation! - Dr. Emem Okon, Executive Director of Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre (Nigeria)
Shell is trying to shirk responsibility for seventy years of oil extraction in the Niger Delta. Meanwhile, the pollution remains severe. We have to go to another community outside the Niger Delta to buy drinking water. The air is polluted by gas flaring. - King Odidiomo Afolabi, a monarch out of the Niger Delta (Nigeria)
Last year’s sell-off by Shell of its shares in SPDC to Renaissance Energy was a travesty of justice for the long suffering communities of the Niger Delta. The divestment was rejected by the regulator, but this was overruled by the President - why? We are warning shareholders that Shell retains legal liability and moral responsibility for cleaning up historic pollution in the Niger Delta, despite its effort to offload these by selling its Nigerian subsidy SPDC, to a buyer which clearly cannot put up the cash to ensure a proper clean-up - even if it wanted to do so. These liabilities come from 70 years of oil and gas exploration and extraction - and an abundance of maintenance short-cuts. Shell doesn’t just get to dump its likely tens of billions of dollars of liabilities onto its victims. - Simon Taylor, Director of Hawkmoth (The Netherlands)
Activists are also alerting Shell shareholders to mounting liabilities and risks linked to Shell’s inadequate maintenance and decommissioning of ageing oil infrastructure before the sale to Renaissance Energy.
They point to the crisis in the Bille Town community which, since November 2025 has suffered a crisis of intense bubbling and release of pungent gases to the atmosphere from surrounding rivers. Since then, the situation has escalated into a persistent, widespread subterranean gas eruption, affecting rivers, wells, boreholes, and land surfaces throughout the community. Last week, a large fire spontaneously erupted in the middle of the community, putting residents and homes in danger.
Bille is the home of community members engaged in a legal case against Shell plc making its way through UK courts, awaiting trial during 2027.
Media Contacts:
Cindy Coltman, Hawkmoth, cindyco@protonmail.com; + 31 625524361
Nsemeke Fabian Asanga; fabian@kebetkachewomencentre.com; +234 8131969053
Notes to Editors:
This press release is being issued by Hawkmoth in cooperation with a coalition of international and Nigerian-based non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations working on issues related to oil and gas industry operations in Nigeria.
Hawkmoth is a non-profit organisation established in the Netherlands in 2024. We focus on human rights, climate and environmental justice, and corporate accountability.
Further resources:
Pollution impacts in the Niger Delta
Current Legal Cases Against Shell plc
Background on the sale of SPDC to Renaissance
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