Nigeria Needs $12 Billion To Clean Up Oil Spills, According To Report

To clean up years of oil spills in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria, one of Africa's biggest oil producers, would require $12 billion.

The Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission reported on this on Tuesday.

The Commission claims that for more than a decade, the Southern Bayelsa State has been the lone victim of oil leaks caused by two multinational oil firms, Shell Petroleum Development business of Nigeria Limited and Eni.

According to the Commission, it began looking into the case of oil spills in the area in 2019 and found, among other things, that harmful pollutants from spills and gas flaring were present in samples of soil, water, air, and inhabitants' blood at levels that were far higher than the acceptable limits.

The report also criticized ICOs for its inaction, lack of a plan, and lack of strategy to address the region's oil leak problem.

"The report finds failures of strategy, prevention, response and remediation by oil companies," it said.

Many ICOs have fought oil-producing towns in court for a very long time without ever winning a significant case.

The ICOS, in the meantime, persisted in blaming unlicensed refineries and oil thieves for the decade-old problem of oil spills.