Life in the Niger Delta, one of the most contaminated areas in the world, has become a daily battle for survival due to decades of oil spills, mainly attributed to the multinational Shell.
Communities like Vile and Ogale are facing the destruction of their mangroves, the loss of their traditional livelihoods such as fishing and shellfish gathering, posing serious health risks, while engaging in a legal battle in London against the energy giant.
Dawhari Stanford, a 65-year-old fisherwoman in Vile, sums up the tragedy: “When I was a child, we used to gather shellfish until one day we couldn’t find any more.”
“That was in 2011, and everything was covered by a thick layer of oil. There’s nothing left to fish. If you go to the river and cast the net, you catch nothing.”
She describes how bathing left a “film of oil on the body”, forcing them to repeatedly wash with soap.
The Health Nightmare: Water and Diseases in the Most Contaminated Areas
Doctor Ville Briggs, an expert in illnesses caused by spills, examines Esther VkT, a midwife from Ogale, and her 10-year-old son at a clinic in Port Harcourt, both with skin rashes from living in one of the most contaminated areas.
Briggs directly links their ailments to the contaminated water: “We know that the water in Ogale is contaminated and that it contained hydrocarbons 900 times above the limits established by the WHO.”
He advises to avoid the local water for drinking, bathing, and cooking, which is economically unattainable for Esther: “How can we afford to go fetch water elsewhere?”
Briggs warns about a concerning rise in cancers (lung, blood, bone, uterus, breast) and cardiovascular and renal problems in increasingly younger people, even under 30 years old, something “completely new” and attributed to the contaminated environmental setting.
“It’s a tragedy and only because they have the bad luck to live in these oil-filled villages,” he laments.
Illegal Economy and Cycle of Violence
The environmental destruction drives many, like Kingsley Ogararu (38 years old), to the illegal business of oil: crude oil theft and clandestine refineries.
“We had empty hands because we couldn’t cultivate or fish, and the unfortunate thing is that the government didn’t care about us.”
After witnessing three deaths from fires in a refinery, Kingsley left that life. Now he works with Fyneface Dumnamene, director of an NGO promoting alternatives like solar energy to combat energy poverty and reduce crude oil theft.
“If they make money by sabotaging pipelines, they are stealing the fishers and farmers their livelihood,” argues Dumnamene.
Legal Battle: Bodo as Hope
Dawhari, Esther, and thousands of neighbors (around 13,000 from Bille and Ogale) sued Shell in London. The multinational, which announced its withdrawal from the delta to focus on offshore fields, denies responsibility.
In a written statement, it blamed “criminals who steal oil on an industrial scale” as the main cause of the leaks. The claimants and experts reject this, pointing out the poor condition of Shell’s pipelines.
“The main problem is the countless leaks due to poor maintenance,” they argue.
A hopeful precedent comes from Bodo. After massive spills in 2008 and 2009, Shell offered meager compensations (4,000 dollars and rice).
The neighbors sued in London and won: Shell was sentenced to pay 80 million dollars and fund the cleanup of 1,000 hectares of contaminated mangrove.
Today, scientific teams take soil and water samples to assess the residual risks after the cleanup and ensure compliance.
Reforesting the Future: The Return of the Mangroves
The cleanup in Bodo allows for reforestation, led by experts like Princess Jordan (28 years old). She recalls the mangrove of her childhood, contrasting it with the devastated landscape she found in 2020: “Mangroves are the mother of rivers as they absorb carbon, purify the air.”
She manages a mangrove nursery and oversees the planting. “The survival rate is 90%. It’s truly wonderful to see,” says Michael, supervisor of the teams. Although the recovery is slow, it serves as a model for other communities.
While the trial in London continues, communities like Bille and Ogale cry out for justice, compensation, and environmental restoration.</p
