Anxiety Heightens Over Abandoned Oil Wells In Niger Delta Region – Independent Newspaper Nigeria

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In the creeks and mangrove forests of the Niger Delta, fires still burn from oil wells long abandoned. The Ororo-1 well in Ondo State has reportedly been burning since 2020. In Rivers State, the Alakiri wellhead has remained engulfed in flames since at least 2024. In Bayelsa State, abandoned wells continue to leak hydrocarbons into surrounding soil and waterways. In Akwa Ibom, more than 32 oil wells in communities such as Oko, Okoroette, and Utapete have allegedly been left without proper decommissioning.

Environmental advocates say these sites are no longer isolated incidents of industrial neglect. They are environmental and public health emergencies. At the 5th Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence (NDAC) held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in May 2026, stakeholders described abandoned oil infrastructure across the region as “ticking time bombs” threatening ecosystems, groundwater, livelihoods, biodiversity, and public health. Their message was blunt: the crisis can no longer be ignored.

A Region Paying the Price of Oil

For more than six decades, the Niger Delta has powered Nigeria’s oil economy. Spanning nine states and home to more than 30 million people, the region generates much of the crude oil that sustains the country’s foreign exchange earnings. Yet many of its communities remain defined not by prosperity, but by pollution.

According to the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) the Niger Delta remains one of the world’s most environmentally degraded oil-producing regions. Nigeria recorded at least 589 oil spills in 2024 alone, releasing an estimated 19,000 barrels of crude into the environment. The spills have devastated rivers, fishing routes, farmlands, and mangrove forests that sustain local economies.

“Beyond environmental degradation, oil pollution has worsened poverty, damaged public health, and eroded the dignity of affected communities,” said Joyce Brown, Director of Programmes at HOMEF, ahead of the 2026 convergence.

For many residents, the damage is both economic and deeply personal. Farmers struggle to cultivate contaminated land, while fishermen face declining catches in polluted creeks. In some communities, residents continue to depend on water sources allegedly contaminated by hydrocarbons.

The Wells Left Behind

At the centre of growing outrage is the abandonment of oil wells and petroleum facilities without proper decommissioning.

Under Nigerian regulations, oil operators are expected to safely seal inactive wells, dismantle obsolete infrastructure, and restore impacted environments once production ceases. Environmental groups argue that these obligations have often been ignored.

Environmental activist Dr. Nnimmo Bassey has repeatedly warned about the dangers posed by ageing and abandoned infrastructure across the region. “There are several wellheads, manifolds, flow stations, and pipelines that ought to be decommissioned and removed from communities across the Niger Delta,” he said.

“These derelict facilities constitute ecosystem impacts, groundwater contamination, and threaten human health.” The risks are not theoretical.

Stakeholders frequently reference the 2007 eruption at the Shell Petroleum Development Company’s Ibibio-1 well in Akwa Ibom State as evidence of the dangers associated with ageing oil infrastructure.

In Bayelsa State, Oloibiri, the historic community where oil was first discovered in commercial quantities in Nigeria in 1956, remains both a symbol of Nigeria’s petroleum wealth and of environmental abandonment.

Every Abandoned Well Is a Crime Scene

The tone at the Uyo convergence reflected mounting frustration among environmental groups, traditional rulers, civil society organisations, academics, women’s groups, and youth representatives.

In a communiqué issued after the gathering, stakeholders declared that every abandoned and leaking oil well in the Niger Delta should be treated as “a crime scene” because of the continuing threat posed to lives, ecosystems, and livelihoods.

They demanded an immediate audit of abandoned oil wells and facilities, urgent remediation and ecological restoration, stronger enforcement of environmental laws, greater transparency regarding decommissioning funds, and legal accountability for operators that fail to meet their obligations.

Traditional rulers also expressed concern over the longterm social and economic consequences of environmental degradation.

King Bubaraye Dakolo, the Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State, previously described the Niger Delta as “one of the most polluted places in the world,” warning that decades of extraction had deepened poverty and social disruption in many communities.

Oil Companies Are Leaving, But the Pollution Remains The crisis has become more urgent amid the ongoing divestment of multinational oil companies from onshore operations in the Niger Delta.

Companies including Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Eni have either sold or are in the process of selling major onshore assets to indigenous operators. Environmental groups fear these exits could leave behind enormous environmental liabilities.

Participants at the Uyo convergence criticised what they described as the hurried transfer of ageing infrastructure without adequate remediation or clear accountability mechanisms.

Critics also worry that many local operators acquiring the assets may lack the financial capacity to manage ageing facilities or undertake expensive cleanup operations.

Iniruo Wills, a lawyer and former commissioner for environment in Bayelsa State, argued in 2025 that multinational companies may be seeking to reduce future liability exposure tied to decades of environmental damage.

Adding to the concern is uncertainty over who ultimately bears responsibility after divestment.

A 2024 report by the Dutch research organisation SOMO noted that ownership and operational responsibility in some divested assets remain opaque, making accountability more difficult for affected communities seeking remediation.

Regulators Under Fire Stakeholders at the convergence also accused Nigerian regulators of weak enforcement and poor oversight.

Against the backdrop of the foregoing, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority faced criticism over alleged failures to compel operators to properly decommission obsolete facilities.

Participants further questioned the transparency of Decommissioning and Abandonment (D&A) funds, financial provisions oil companies are expected to maintain for the safe closure of oil infrastructure.

Stakeholders called for stricter legal safeguards to ensure the funds are adequately financed, publicly transparent, and protected from misuse.

Although the House of Representatives has initiated investigations into abandoned wells and oil spills on several occasions, environmental advocates say there has been little visible progress toward systematic cleanup and enforcement.

The UNEP Warning That Still Echoes

Concerns over environmental devastation in the Niger Delta are not new. In 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), released its landmark assessment of Ogoniland, documenting severe hydrocarbon contamination in soil and groundwater.

The report recommended emergency measures and a long-term remediation programme expected to last decades.

More than a decade later, implementation has faced criticism over delays and limited progress. The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), established to oversee cleanup efforts, has repeatedly faced scrutiny regarding pace, transparency, and community engagement.

For many stakeholders in the Niger Delta, the slow implementation of the UNEP recommendations has become symbolic of a broader pattern of environmental neglect.

The Human Cost of Neglect

Beyond environmental statistics lies a deepening humanitarian crisis. A 2025 peer-reviewed study published through PubMed found that chronic oil pollution in the Niger Delta continues to affect food systems, livelihoods, physical health, and mental wellbeing.

Researchers warned that prolonged exposure to oil-related contaminants may contribute to systemic health complications and heightened psychological distress in impacted communities.

For residents living near polluted creeks and abandoned facilities, the crisis is not abstract. It shapes daily survival.

Communities that sit atop the natural resources sustaining Nigeria’s economy remain among the country’s most environmentally vulnerable and economically marginalised populations.

The Clock Is Running More than sixty years after oil transformed Nigeria into a major petroleum-producing nation, the Niger Delta remains trapped in a cycle of extraction, pollution, and weak accountability.

The wells are still leaking. Some fires are still burning. Ageing infrastructure remains scattered across communities, even as major oil companies continue to exit the region.

But pressure for accountability is growing. Environmental groups, traditional rulers, civil society organisations, and affected communities are demanding that abandoned oil infrastructure be treated not as forgotten relics of industrial activity, but as urgent threats requiring immediate action.

Their demand is simple: clean up the damage, enforce the law, and ensure that the burden of environmental destruction is no longer left for local communities to bear alone.

Every abandoned well, they insist, is a crime scene. And time is running out.