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Article

13 Sep 2004

Author:
Financial Times

Shell faces new dilemma in south Nigeria

Shell...has just stationed members of Nigeria's paramilitary mobile police - whose public notoriety is such that they are nicknamed "kill and go" - to guard its facilities [in Ogoniland] after it experienced problems with tampering...[L]ocal people linked to the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People...accuse the police of brutality and say Shell's pipeline cleaning is likely to cause further pollution to surrounding land. They are also unhappy about the clean-up efforts of Casella, a UK contractor employed by Shell to clean a spill in K-Dere village, part of the Ogoni region. Casella left the community in January after a dispute over its relationship with Chief Fabian Gberesu, K-Dere's hereditary paramount ruler. Ledum Mitee, Mosop president, says the company made "illegal and inappropriate" payments to Chief Fabian that are contributing to conflict between him and members of the community opposed to Shell's plans [Casella denies these payments were bribes; "Shell...does not think" Casella "has done anything wrong."]...Mutiu Sunmonu, Shell's eastern region general manager for production, acknowledges the clean-up postponement has damaged Shell's reputation but says this is a "lesser evil" than allowing Casella to go back and risk "bloodshed in Ogoni".