Where Vultures Continue to Feast: Oil Spills and the Niger Delta Region

The recurrent oil spill has been a significant hallmark in the Nigerian oil and gas sector in the last five decades. This has made the Niger Delta one of the most polluted regions in the world. One of the most recent and devastating oil spills in Nigerian history happened in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on November 5, 2021. The magnitude and consequences of the spill have been likened to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. For nearly a month, crude oil and natural gas spurted into the dozens of nearby fishing settlements along the Nembe coastline and into the Santa Barbara River, which meanders through the Niger Delta before joining the Atlantic Ocean. The cause of the spill at the wellhead of Nigeria’s most prominent domestic oil firm, Aiteo Eastern E&P, is yet to be ascertained. The blowout has caused extensive pollution of rivers and farmland across the region, leading to widespread condemnation of Aiteo. The U.S-based oil-well control specialist Halliburton Boots and Coots had to be drafted in to ‘kill the well’ (injecting cement into the well to plug it) when local technicians could not stop the horrific spill.

Thus, this edition of Nextier SPD Policy Weekly examines the security threats posed by the oil spills and how to address them effectively.

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