Shell Oil Pays $15.5M for Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria

In 1995, Nigerian author Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other anti-oil activists were convicted and hanged in Nigeria. A court case scheduled to begin in the US next week alleged that Royal Dutch Shell helped the Nigerian government capture and hang the men. Without admitting any wrongdoing, the oil giant announced yesterday that it will pay $15.5 million as compensation in the deaths of the protestors. Human rights activists are hailing the decision as a victory in an oil-rich region that continues to be plagued by corruption and violence. Michael Watts, Director of the Center for African Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, has more on the story.