Shell paid a military commander notorious for human rights violations as part of providing Nigeria’s military with support during the brutal crackdown of the 1990s. We can’t let them evade accountability for their role in murder, rape and torture.

Nigeria’s Esther Kiobel is taking on one of the world’s biggest oil companies – Shell – in a final fight for justice over her husband’s killing. She’s pursued them for 22 years, accusing Shell of colluding in her husband’s 1995 execution.

Shell’s quest for oil has devastated the once fertile land in the Niger Delta. Communities have been left destitute from decades of pollution. Oil spills have ravaged farmland and rivers, contaminating their water and putting their health at grave risk. In the 1990s, Shell seemingly would stop at nothing to make sure they were turning a profit. The company urged Nigeria’s military government to deal with environmental protests – knowing full well what that could mean. The military killed and tortured people in a brutal crackdown that culminated in the 1995 sham trial and hanging of nine Nigerian men, including Esther’s husband, Dr Barinem Kiobel.

Losing her husband tore Esther’s world apart. Fearing for her life, she fled Nigeria with her children. She never stopped struggling to have her husband’s name cleared.

This month, Esther is taking Shell to court in the Netherlands in what will be a tense David vs Goliath face-off. Shell has done everything it can to keep her complaints out of the public eye. But Esther won’t let them make her feel small. Neither should we.

Tell Shell you’re with Esther.

Send us your message and we will make sure Shell gets it – and that Esther knows you’re standing with her. Feel free to edit and personalise your message as much as you like.