The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has rejected claims by four Nigerian farmers that it should pay compensation for damage to their land.
- 1958: Oil struck in Ogoniland. It lies in what is now one of Nigeria’s wealthiest states. Most Nigerians live on less than $2 a day
- 1993: Large-scale protests by Ogoni people over neglect by government and Shell, led by Mosop group co-founded by activist Ken Saro-Wiwa
- 1993: Shell pulls out of Ogoniland
- 1994: Four community leaders killed. Mosop leaders including Ken Saro-Wiwa arrested
- 1995: Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others executed by military government, sparking international outrage
- 2009: Shell reaches $15.5m (£9.7m) settlement with families to stop case accusing it of complicity in Saro-Wiwa’s death and other human rights abuses
- 2008-09: Shell accepts liability for two spills in Ogoniland
- 2011: UN report says it could take Ogoniland 30 years to recover fully from damage caused by years of oil spills
