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

[xchrom]

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


If it were a country Shell would have the third highest security budget in Africa. Photograph: Adrian Arbib/Corbis


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 2007-09: 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.