A judicial committee set up by Nigeria's parliament had asked Anglo-Dutch oil firm Shell to pay $1.5 billion in compensation to a community in southern Nigeria, officials said. The panel, headed by former chief justice Mohammed Bello, was set up in December 2000 by the house of representatives after the Ijaw people of Bayelsa state filed a petition demanding compensation from Shell for "the harmful impact of its oil production and exploration activities for  over 60 years".