Shell spending millions of dollars on security in Nigeria, leaked data shows

Source: The Guardian

Shell is paying Nigerian security forces tens of millions of dollars a year to guard their installations and staff in the Niger delta, according to leaked internal financial data seen by the Guardian. The oil giant also maintains a 1,200-strong internal police force in Nigeria, plus a network of plainclothes informants.

According to the data, the world's largest company by revenue spent nearly $1bn on worldwide security between 2007-2009: if it were a country Shell would have the third highest security budget in Africa, after South Africa and Nigeria itself.

The documents show that nearly 40% of Shell's total security expenditure over the three year period – $383m (£244m) – was spent on protecting its staff and installations in Nigeria's volatile Niger delta region. In 2009, $65m was spent on Nigerian government forces and $75m on "other" security costs – believed to be a mixture of private security firms and payments to individuals.

Activists expressed concern that the escalating cost of Shell's security operation in the delta was further destabilising the oil rich region and helping to fuel rampant corruption and criminality. "The scale of Shell's global security expenditure is colossal," said Ben Amunwa of London-based oil watchdog Platform. "It is staggering that Shell transferred $65m of company funds and resources into the hands of soldiers and police known for routine human rights abuses."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/aug/19/shell-spending-security-nigeria-leak