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Chima Williams is an Environmental Activist, an environmental lawyer who fights environmental injustice and held a multinational company like Shell to pay for damages they have caused and inflicted in some communities in the Niger-Delta. He is also the founder of the first Student environmental justice group in Nigeria.He was named the Earth’s foremost defenders. https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/chima-williams/#recipient-bio

https://dailytrust.com/nigerian-activist-chima-williams-wins-goldman-environmental-prize

https://www.environewsnigeria.com/head-of-era-foen-chima-williams-six-others-win-goldman-environmental-prize/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/05/chima-williams-era-foen-ed-six-others-win-goldman-environmental-prize/

Career
Chima Williams as a student joined the Nigerian environmental movement in the 1990s where he volunteered for Environmental Rights Action (ERA), an NGO which was created in 1993, which advocates for environmental rights in Nigeria. In 1998, Chima founded the first Student environmental justice group in Nigeria. He has been serving as an environmental lawyer prosecuting multinational companies on environmental pollution cases in Nigeria. On October 2020, He was appointed as the Executive Director of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN). Environmental Rights Action (ERA) which is an advocacy NGO founded on January 11, 1993 in Nigeria to combat environmental human rights issues in Nigeria. ERA is the Nigerian chapter of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI). https://erafoen.org/

https://dailytrust.com/nigerian-activist-chima-williams-wins-goldman-environmental-prize

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/532316-nigerian-activist-six-others-win-goldman-environmental-prize.html.

Awards
Chima Williams is one of the awardees of the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize across the globe. He is the 3rd Nigerian to get the award. The award was given for his work in protecting the earth by holding Royal Dutch Shell accountable for oil spillage from their facilities into the Niger Delta communities. The Goldman award is given to honour and appreciate the work of grassroots environmental activists across the world who are working to protect the earth. https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/high-society/chima-williams-wins-2022-goldman-environmental-prize/ https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/high-society/chima-williams-wins-2022-goldman-environmental-prize/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/05/chima-williams-era-foen-ed-six-others-win-goldman-environmental-prize/

Legal Environmental Work
Chima was on the legal team that prosecuted Royal Dutch Shell for environmental contamination and oil spillage in the Niger-Delta communities between 2004 and 2007. The case went on for 13years before Chima and his team could win the case. In 2008, Chima had to partner with Friends of the Earth Netherlands in order to sue the Royal Dutch Shell in their home country and fight for the rights of the affected farmers due to environmental contamination from their facilities.

The case finally ended and they won on January 29th, 2021, after 13 years of litigation in Hague at the court of appeal. The court ruled in favour of the farmers who were affected. This was the first time Royal Dutch Shell would be held responsible and made accountable in a Dutch court. https://thisisafrica.me/africans-rising/meet-2022-goldman-environmental-prize-winner-chima-williams/

https://www.environewsnigeria.com/head-of-era-foen-chima-williams-six-others-win-goldman-environmental-prize/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/05/chima-williams-era-foen-ed-six-others-win-goldman-environmental-prize/

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/537771-interview-suing-shell-in-the-netherlands-set-standard-in-global-home-litigation-williams.html

Chima was also part of the legal team that litigated action against Shell for gas flaring in Iwherekan community in 2005. https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/high-society/chima-williams-wins-2022-goldman-environmental-prize/

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/532316-nigerian-activist-six-others-win-goldman-environmental-prize.html