Niger Delta communities demand accountability as oil pollution crisis deepens

By Martin Metieh

For nearly 70 years, communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta have continued to bear the environmental and human cost of oil and gas exploration, even as the region remains the backbone of the nation’s economy.

Environmental advocates and community leaders are now raising fresh concerns over what they describe as decades of unresolved pollution, abandoned oil infrastructure and the growing divestment of multinational oil companies from onshore operations without adequate remediation of damaged ecosystems.

According to the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), the Niger Delta remains one of the most polluted regions globally, with Nigeria recording at least 589 oil spills in 2024 alone, releasing an estimated 19,000 barrels of crude oil into the environment.

The spills, environmentalists say, continue to destroy rivers, farmlands and mangrove forests while threatening livelihoods dependent on fishing and farming.

Director of Programmes at HOMEF, Joyce Brown, in a statement ahead of the 2026 Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence (NDAC), lamented the devastating impact of pollution on local communities.

She noted that beyond environmental degradation, oil pollution has worsened poverty, damaged public health and eroded the dignity of affected communities.

“When we speak of environmental pollution, many tend to overlook the impact on the people. We do not easily think about the people whose farmlands are degraded and cannot produce crops or fisherfolk who return home with empty nets, people, including children, bathing and drinking contaminated water because that is the main source of water available to them,” she said.

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Brown cited studies linking oil spills in the region to respiratory illnesses, skin diseases, infertility, birth defects and increased infant mortality rates.

Traditional rulers have also expressed concern over the continued environmental decline in the region.

At the 2024 Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence organised by HOMEF and its partners, the Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State, King Bubaraye Dakolo, described the Niger Delta as “one of the most polluted places in the universe”, stressing that decades of oil extraction had altered the social and economic fabric of communities.

Environmental groups further criticised what they termed the “hurried divestment” of oil companies from onshore assets without proper decommissioning of ageing infrastructure.

They referenced a major spill along the Trans Niger Pipeline in B-Dere community, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, in May 2025, reported as the second major incident on the pipeline within two months.

HOMEF and allied organisations warned that ageing pipelines and abandoned facilities remain major sources of recurring pollution across the Niger Delta.

The group also raised concerns over continued pollution in Ogoniland, citing incidents in Kpean in August 2025 and Eteo-Eleme in June 2023, which reportedly destroyed farmlands, contaminated water sources and displaced residents.

According to Brown, accountability must include the complete decommissioning of obsolete oil infrastructure, restoration of polluted environments and compensation for affected communities.

“Accountability means that the people are duly compensated for their lost livelihoods, that binding obligations on the polluters are enforced, and that the era of extractivism without responsibility is brought to an end,” she said.

The HOMEF official explained that the Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence was established to amplify community voices and promote people-centred alternatives for the region.

Since its inception in 2022, NDAC has brought together activists, traditional rulers, women groups, youth organisations, scholars and civil society groups to advocate socio-ecological justice in the Niger Delta.

The 2026 edition of the convergence is scheduled to be held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on May 14, and will spotlight communities in Ogoni, Nigeria, and Yasuni, Ecuador, that have resisted fossil fuel exploitation for decades.

Brown called on Nigerians and the international community to support the movement for environmental accountability and justice in impacted communities across the Niger Delta.