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25 Mar Shell faces court action over Nigeria oil spills Shell, the international oil company is being taken to court in London over alleged unpaid compensation for recent oil spills in a Nigerian fishing community. Reports said Shell has accepted responsibility for the spillage of about 4,000 barrels in the Niger Delta. However, negotiations had broken down over the compensation, forcing the Ogoni to resort to court action. The oil-producing Niger Delta region remains one of the country's poorest and least developed regions even though Nigeria is one of the leading oil producers in the world. The Ogoni people have long complained about the environmental damage to their communities, but they say they have mostly been ignored. Ken Saro Wiwa, the leading campaigner for the Ogoniland people was executed in 1995 under General Sani Abacha’s regime after a long struggle against authorities on behalf on the community. Analysts said this will be the first time Shell has faced claims in a UK High Court from the developing world for environmental damage. The oils spills in the Delta region happened in 2008 continued into 2009, caused by what Shell said were operational failures. The company promised it would pay compensation according to Nigerian law and would clean up the oil and restore the land. Analysts said the spills had devastated a once-thriving fishing community of some 50,000 people.