Dirty Shell to appeal against $1.5bn judgement

finfacts: A Nigerian court has ordered oil giant Shell to pay $1.5bn to the Ijaw people of the oil rich Niger Delta region.

Shell facilities have been subject to attacks by armed Nigerian rebels in recent days and have reduced oil shipments. Ijaw militants are holding seven foreign oil workers hostage.

The Ijaw have been fighting since 2000 for compensation for environmental degradation in the oil-rich region.

The court case was taken after Shell refused to make the payment ordered by Nigeria's parliament.

Shell plans to appeal against the judgement.

Shell's lawyers claimed in the federal court in Port Harcourt that the joint committee of the National Assembly that made the order in 2000 did not have the power to compel the oil company to make the payment. Read more