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According to UN documents, frequent oil spills have contaminated the land and water of the Niger Delta. Thousands of oil spills have occurred since Niger Delta production began in the 1950s.
According to UN documents, frequent oil spills have contaminated the land and water of the Niger Delta. Thousands of oil spills have occurred since Niger Delta production began in the 1950s. Last month in November, the Ogboinbiri community in Bayelsa state suffered its fourth spill in three months, harming fields, streams, and fishing. The living conditions of the people have worsened with unusable barren land and water bodies. Local people often wash, drink, fish, and cook in contaminated water.
In 2011, global oil companies agreed to give a USD 1 billion cleanup fund for the worst-affected area, Ogoniland. About USD 300 million was contributed by Shell, the largest private oil and gas company in the country. The fund was created at the instance of the UN, but it was relegated to an advisory role with the Nigerian government as the agency to handle the funds.
U.N. officials consider the Nigerian cleanup agency work as a total failure. The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, or Hyprep the cleaning agency selected inexperienced cleanup contractors, said a U.N. review. A U.N. review found that 21 of the 41 approved contractors to clean up spill sites had no experience and included construction companies and general merchants.
Soil samples were sent to laboratories without testing equipment. Auditors were not allowed to check the quality and completion of the work. It was alleged that most cleanup companies are owned by politicians.
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An investigation by U.N. scientists last year found that certain were drained of topsoil, and in some areas, soils have seven times more petroleum remnants than Nigerian health limits allow.
