Royal Dutch/Shell Group is a network of affiliated but formally independent oil and gas companies, many located in the United States. Royal Dutch/Shell also has extensive financial relationships with banks and other investors and shareholders in the New York and other parts of the U.S. Among the affiliated companies is Shell Petroleum development Company of Nigeria, Ltd. ("Shell Nigeria"), a wholly owned Nigerian subsidiary that does extensive oil exploration and development activity in the Ogoni region of Nigeria.
Ken Saro-Wiwa and others were imprisoned, tortured, and killed by the Nigerian government in reprisal for their political opposition to Shell Nigeria's oil exploration activities. Saro-Wiwa and other activists alleged that Shell Nigeria coercively appropriated land for oil development without adequate compensation, and caused substantial pollution of the air and water in the homeland of the Ogoni people. A protest movement arose among the Ogoni. Ken Saro-Wiwa was an opposition leader and president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People.
According to a suit filed in New York by surviving activists and their families, and Royal Dutch/Shell investors, Shell Nigeria recruited the Nigerian police and military to attack local villages and suppress the organized opposition to its development activity. Saro-Wiwa and others were repeatedly arrested, detained, and tortured by the Nigerian government because of their leadership roles in the protest movement. In 1995, Saro-Wiwa and others were hanged, along with other Ogoni leaders, after being convicted of murder by a special military tribunal. The suit alleges they were convicted on fabricated evidence solely to silence political criticism and were not afforded the legal protections required by international law. Plaintiffs also allleged that Saro-Wiwa's family--including his 74-year-old mother, was beaten by Nigerian officials while attending his trial. The suit maintains that these abuses were carried out by the Nigerian government and military, but were instigated, orchestrated, planned, and facilitated by Shell Nigeria with the Royal Dutch/Shell Group who allegedly provided money, weapons, and logistical support to the Nigerian military, including the vehicles and ammunition used in the raids on the villages, procured at least some of the attacks, participated in the fabrication of the murder charges against Saro-Wiwa, and bribed witnesses to give false testimony against them. The trial court dismissed the case for forum non conveniens. The investors and others appealed. What should the appellate courts do and why? [Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 226 F.3d 88 (2nd Circuit, 2000)].
How much does it really matter whether Royal Dutch/Shell instigated or orchestrated these deeds, or whether the Nigerian government did it on their own for the sake of profiting from their deal with the oil companies?
If you were a board member, could you still go forward with the project knowing these things were taking place? What do you make of the Royal Dutch/Shell investors joining the suit on the plaintiff's side?