Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Lebanon: Israeli occupation forces carried out an explosion in the southern border town of Kfar Kila
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.

Oil spill from Shell pipeline contaminates farms, river in Nigeria

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 26 Jun 2023 20:04
  • 3 Shares
3 Min Read

A Shell plant in Nigeria suffered an oil spill that contaminated and disrupted lives in farming and fishing villages.

  • x
  • In this grab taken from video, workers stand by a container to collect oil spill waste, in Ogoniland, Nigeria, June 16, 2023. (AP)
    In this grab taken from video, workers stand by a container to collect oil spill waste, in Ogoniland, Nigeria, June 16, 2023. (AP)

An oil spill at a Shell plant in Nigeria has contaminated a river and farmland, disrupting lives in farming and fishing villages in the Niger Delta, which has suffered from oil sector contamination.

According to the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, or NOSDRA, the spill came from the Shell-operated Trans-Niger Pipeline, which crosses through communities in the Eleme area of Ogoniland, a region where the London-based energy giant has faced decades of local opposition to its oil exploration.

The amount of oil spilled has not yet been calculated, but campaigners have released photographs of damaged farms, oil-stained water surfaces, and dead fish engulfed in sticky muck.

While spills are common in the region due to vandalism by oil thieves and a lack of pipeline maintenance, activists term this one a "major one," according to the UN Environmental Program. It is “one of the worst in the last 16 years in Ogoniland," said Fyneface Dumnamene, an environmental activist whose non-profit monitors spills in the Delta region. 

Read next: Nigeria inaugurates Africa's largest oil refinery

“It lasted for over a week, bursts into Okulu River — which adjoins other rivers and ultimately empties into the Atlantic Ocean — and affects several communities and displaces more than 300 fishers,” said Dumnamene of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre.

He stated that tides have sent oil sheens about 10 kilometers (6 miles) near the nation’s oil business capital, Port Harcourt.

Related News

Gaza humanitarian aid and the politics of narrative management

Nigeria: 27 killed in armed attack on mosque during dawn prayers

More than 20 years ago, Shell stopped production in Ogoniland amid deadly unrest from residents protesting environmental damage, but the Trans-Niger Pipeline still sends crude from oil fields through the region's communities to export terminals. 

The leak has been contained, but treating the fallout from the spill at farms and the Okulu River, which runs through communities, has stalled, NOSDRA Director General Idris Musa said. “Response has been delayed,” Musa said, blaming protesting residents. “But engagement is going on.”

Niger Delta's oil 

Africa's greatest economy is heavily reliant on the Niger Delta's oil resources for revenue, but pollution from that production has deprived communities of access to clean water, harmed farming and fishing, and increased the risk of violence, according to activists.

The communities “are very angry because of the destruction of their livelihoods resulting from the obsoleteness of Shell’s equipment, and are concerned the regulator and Shell will blame sabotage by the residents,” Dumnamene said.

Thus, oil firms frequently accuse pipeline vandalism by oil thieves or disgruntled young people in impacted communities for spills, which may allow them to dodge accountability.

Read next: Nigeria to meet energy needs by 2050 through renewable energy: Report

The London-based Shell said it is working with a joint investigatory team, consisting of regulators, Ogoniland residents, and local authorities, to identify the cause and impact of the spill.

Shell's response team “has been activated, subject to safety requirements, to mobilize to the site to take actions that may be necessary for the safety of the environment, people and equipment,” a company statement said.

Hundreds of farmers and fishermen who have been cut off from their livelihoods would insist on the restoration of the environment and then compensation, Dumnamene said.

  • Nigeria
  • Oil Spill
  • Shell

Most Read

Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025
The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

A Palestinian youth stands on a hill overlooking IsraelI Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP)
Politics

77 Palestinian prisoners killed in Israeli prisons since October 7

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a joint press conference with US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Tuesday, August 26, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy Barrack calls Lebanese journalists 'animalistic"'

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)
Politics

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS