While operating in Nigeria, Shell gave millions of dollars to the Nigerian military and other armed groups, exacerbating conflict and fuelling human rights abuses in the country.
A report by Platform in 2011 found that Shell was complicit in:
‘cases of serious violence in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region from 2000 to 2010.
Shell’s routine payments to armed militants exacerbated conflicts, in one case leading to the destruction of Rumuekpe town where it is estimated that at least 60 people were killed….
In 2010, Shell is alleged to have transferred over $159,000 to a group credibly linked to militia violence.’
This was followed by another Platform report in 2012, DIRTY WORK: Shell Security Spending in Nigeria and Beyond, which revealed:
- Shell spent over $1 billion on global security between 2007 to 2009. At least $383 million of that was spent in Nigeria, or 40% of Shell’s total expenditure.
- In 2009, Shell’s financial support for government forces in Nigeria, including the notorious ‘kill and go’ police, reached an estimated $65 million.
- Shell executives appear to have turned a blind eye to unexplained security expenditure of $75 million in Nigeria in 2009.
- During the period, Shell’s security spending fuelled conflict and enabled systematic human rights abuses by government forces and armed militants