By Karen Gullo
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp. denied directing Nigerian soldiers who shot and killed protesters on an oil platform and said the actions were self defense, as the company made its final arguments at the end of a four-week trial.
Attorneys for 19 Nigerian villagers accused Chevron of approving and aiding a 1998 attack on unarmed villagers who boarded an oil platform to peacefully protest for jobs and community support. Two men were killed, others were wounded or beaten and one was hung by his wrists and tortured. A jury in San Francisco began deliberating yesterday whether the company is liable for wrongful death and torture.
Chevron says the villagers invaded the platform and held 150 workers hostage for ransom. The second-largest U.S. oil company’s Nigerian subsidiary, which employed that country’s military for security, made a “careful and reasonable” decision to rescue its workers using the soldiers, who were attacked by the villagers, Chevron’s lawyers argued.
“The decision to shoot in self-defense was made by the military,” Robert Mittelstaedt, an attorney for Chevron, said in closing arguments yesterday. “Not only did we not think anything wrong would happen, we certainly didn’t intend for anything to happen.”
Attorneys for the Nigerians showed evidence at trial that Chevron and its Nigerian unit considered the military, especially a mobile police unit nicknamed “Kill and Go,” to be “uncontrollable” and prone to violence. They asked the jury to find that the San Ramon, California-based parent company was ultimately responsible for the Nigerian unit’s decisions and acted recklessly.
‘Kill and Go’
“The Kill and Go were among the most vicious military operations in the world,” said Dan Stormer, an attorney for the Nigerians. “Chevron paid, fed, housed and maintained the military, including the Kill and Go, to have security in Nigeria.”
The jury can award punitive damages against Chevron for recklessness. The Nigerians are seeking unspecified compensatory damages for medical care, loss of wages and pain and suffering for the victims and families of the deceased and wounded.
The trial is the second of a U.S. company under a 219-year- old federal law called the Alien Tort Claims Act that allows foreigners to sue in federal court for violations of international laws or treaties.
Drummond Company Inc., a Birmingham, Alabama-based coal producer, won a trial last year over claims that it was liable for the deaths of union leaders at a company mine in Colombia. The Alien Tort statute is cited in as many as 30 lawsuits filed against companies including Chiquita Brands International Inc., Rio Tinto Group, Citigroup Inc. and IBM Corp.
Exxon Mobil Corp., based in Irving, Texas, is the world’s largest oil company.
The case is Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., 99-2506, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
To contact the reporters on this story: Karen Gullo in San Francisco at kgullo@bloomberg.net.
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