Communities from across the Niger Delta have renewed their calls for justice, remediation, and recognition over decades of environmental degradation linked to oil and gas exploration.
The demands were made during a People’s Tribunal organised by Social Action in Rivers State, where affected residents shared emotional testimonies about the destruction of their environment, declining health conditions, and the collapse of their livelihoods.
The tribunal heard from victims who described years of pollution caused by oil spills, gas flaring, and other harmful activities attributed to international oil companies (IOCs).
One of the jurors, Barrister Higher King, a human rights advocate and Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Human Rights Committee, condemned the long-term neglect of the region.
“The hen that lays the golden egg does not even have an ordinary egg, not to talk about the golden egg that it is laying,” he said, stressing that both the government and IOCs must take responsibility for the environmental destruction and human rights violations in the region.
Residents from Abalama, Rumuekpe, and surrounding communities in Rivers State gathered in Ahoada-East to recount the devastation in their areas. They appealed for urgent remediation, medical support, and proper recognition as host communities of the nation’s oil wealth.
“We can hear the sound, the noise, we can also see the spillage in our waterways… the effect of the toxic materials and hydrocarbons from that spillage still remains,” said Tamuno Kalada from Abalama.
Similarly, Engineer Vadi Chimakpam, an environmental monitor from Rumuekpe, decried the worsening conditions of their ecosystem.
“Our soils are devastated, our livelihoods are in bad shape, we don’t have good drinking water… crude oil is lying in our streams and rivers, and they’re not doing anything,” he lamented.
Ikechukwu Jobah, Chairman of the Ogba Egbema Ndoni Hydrocarbon Host Landlords, expressed frustration over the lack of recognition and benefits despite hosting major energy infrastructure.
“We have the two largest gas plants in Africa, yet we’re nothing before the companies… they are not building us,” he said.
The tribunal concluded with strong calls for accountability, urging governments and IOCs to provide remediation, address long-standing injustices, and uphold the rights of host communities.
It also encouraged affected residents to continue speaking out against environmental abuse and called on the international community to intervene in addressing the ongoing ecological and human rights crisis in the Niger Delta.
