Regulatory authorities should live up to their responsibilities
For two years, a wellhead fire has been burning at Ofioma-Ama Alakiri, in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, upending livelihoods in the fishing and farming community. Last week, youths, elders, women and residents of Alakiri and surrounding communities staged a protest over the constant release of toxic fumes into their rivers and atmosphere, describing the persistent gas leak accompanied with fire as “genocidal Wellhead fire”. They raised issues of health, safety and other environmental concerns, while calling on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), operator of Alakiri Well 9, to extinguish the raging fire on their waters. “The continuous release of toxic hydrocarbons into the atmosphere forces the residents of Ofioma-Ama and surrounding Wakirike communities to inhale poisonous fumes daily,” they noted. “Our mothers, children, and elderly citizens are at high risk of severe respiratory illnesses and long-term health complications.”
Unfortunately, the Alakiri well fires represent just one among many in the oil producing areas of the country, contaminating waters, farmlands, and endangering the lives of the people. There is a more prolonged one at Ororo 1, located off the coast of Awoye in Ondo State, said to have been burning for the past six years without any deliberate attempt to put it off. Curiously, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) is silent over the raging environmental disaster. The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) described the sites as “time bombs,” adding that the ongoing fires compound environmental harms such as oil pollution, gas flaring and deforestation. “Protecting the Earth is not a choice, but a necessity for the health, economy and security of every nation,” said Nnimmo Bassey, HOMEF’s executive director, who called for urgent decommissioning, clean-up and support for the affected communities.
Oil bearing communities in the Niger Delta have long endured hardship and environmental pollution caused by the oil industry in decades of oil exploration. This is despite the enormous wealth they generate for governments and corporations. Communities, particularly those close to extraction sites, often experience environmental degradation, poor health, declining livelihoods, and inadequate public services. According to reports, over 240,000 barrels of crude oil are spilled annually in the Niger Delta environment with over 178 active gas flare points within the region. Every day, flames burn beside homes, schools, rivers, and fishing communities, releasing dangerous chemicals, and other pollutants into the atmosphere.
In a presentation titled “Living in Danger: Health Harms of Fossil Fuel Extraction in Nigeria’s Niger Delta”, in commemoration of World Environment Day 2026, Executive Director, ‘We The People,’ Ken Henshaw, lamented that many people in oil communities suffer from respiratory illnesses, skin conditions, eye problems, declining agricultural productivity, contaminated water sources, and the destruction of local ecosystems. “Farmers speak of reduced crop yields,” said Henshaw. “Fisherfolk describes disappearing fish stocks and polluted waterways. Families recount generations growing up under the glow and noise of flare stacks that never seem to stop burning”.
Unfortunately, the problem will likely persist for a while. Oil spills have become a regular feature of the oil producing communities due mainly to accidents, obsolete equipment, and lack of maintenance of oil pipelines. But the oil companies have also blamed the spills largely on vandalism from oil thieves, illegal bunkering, and on aggrieved unemployed youths. Indeed, shortly after the protest by the Alakiri community, a dozen of persons reportedly died within the same Okrika local government area after inhaling toxic fumes from a petroleum product at the Okari Jetty in the Okrika Mainland area. The youths were reportedly loading petroleum product from an illegal tapping point when a strong smell suddenly saturated the air, causing several of them to collapse. But while investigations are still on, we call on the authorities to stop the endless pollution in Akairi wellhead gas leaks and beyond.