Bayelsa oil pollution causing ‘environmental genocide,’ warns international working group  

A non‑governmental organization, the International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta, has described the impact of oil pollution on the environment and the health of the people of Bayelsa State as highly traumatizing.

The NGO, currently carrying out a sensitisation campaign on health hazards associated with oil pollution in the state, said this on Thursday at a meeting with Governor Douye Diri in Yenagoa.

Members of the six‑man IWG delegation include Dr. Kathryn Nwajiaku‑Dahou (ODI Global UK), Prof Michael Watts (University of California), Dr. Isaac Osuoka (York University, Canada), Prof Anna Zalik (York University, Canada), and Dr. Caitlin Strong (ODI Global, United Kingdom).

Speaking through its team lead, Prof Engobo Emeseh, the group expressed concern that average life expectancy in Bayelsa has reduced significantly because the “people are forced to live on contaminated land, air and water.”

Prof Emeseh, who is a member of the Law Faculty at Aberystwyth University, UK, clarified that the IWG is focusing its advocacy on the health of the people in line with the recommendations of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission Report, which was submitted in 2023.

She disclosed that laboratory analysis of blood samples taken from indigenes across all eight local government areas in Bayelsa indicated very high levels of hydrocarbon pollution and carcinogenic metals, causing a sharp increase in mortality and morbidity rates in the state.

Prof Emeseh commended the state government for being the first sub‑national government in Nigeria to set up a high‑powered commission on oil and the environment. She said the IWG would continue to partner with the state and other relevant organizations to mitigate the negative impact of oil pollution on the health of the people.

“Most of us here were constituted as members of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission. We gave our report in 2023, first presented at the House of Lords, then to the Bayelsa State government here at Creek Haven in October 2024, and later to the wider public in Abuja.

“In all of this, the Bayelsa State government gave us the space and the support to provide our expertise and advice on how to deal with the scourge of oil pollution in our state.

“When we presented our report based on evidence we gathered after going to all the LGAs and speaking with indigenes and key stakeholders, my colleagues and I, who were members of the expert working group, were quite traumatised by what we found. I think that is the right word. We called our report an environmental genocide.

“Based on that, we committed to carrying on with this work, even though our commission was decommissioned in November 2024,” she said.

In his remarks, Governor Douye Diri, represented by his deputy, Dr. Peter Akpe, described the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission’s report as one of the most important documents to guide concerted actions in mitigating environmental hazards from oil pollution in the state.

Diri thanked members of the International Working Group for partnering with the state government by making their expertise available to ongoing efforts aimed at mitigating the impact of oil pollution on the health of Bayelsans.

While calling on the Federal Government and international organizations to treat oil pollution in Bayelsa as a special case, he assured the IWG of his administration’s support for environmental remediation and improved healthcare delivery in the state.

His words, “Your visit is very significant. It is to buttress and consolidate the partnership that began with the Bayelsa Oil and Environment Commission. We are happy that the relationship has matured into this kind of sustained international advocacy platform.

“We recall the presentation His Excellency, the Governor made in New York. We traveled from Bayelsa to New York because of the importance we attached to the commission and all your activities.

“The commission’s report remains one of our most important documents, especially concerning the environmental condition of our state and the wider Niger Delta. For us, it is not a closed chapter, it is a living document whose recommendations must continue to guide concrete actions.

“We cannot thank you enough for what you are doing already. We welcome your planned health research, interactions, and engagements in the state. We assure you of our total support, and we equally expect to see positive results from your work.”