On May 19, 2025, Nigeria witnessed yet another disturbing chapter in its long history of oil-related environmental disasters, as Renaissance Africa Energy, a player in the nation’s oil industry, reported a crude oil spill in the Oshika community of Rivers State. The incident was caused by an illegal connection to the Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline, a recurring sabotage tactic that has become a symbol of the deep governance and regulatory failures plaguing Nigeria’s oil-producing regions.
The incident marked Renaissance’s third spill within the month, a reminder that Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta is not just a wealth zone but a persistent environmental sacrifice zone. Earlier in May, the Trans-Niger Pipeline, a major artery for crude oil exports with a capacity of up to 450,000 barrels per day (bpd), ruptured in the B-Dere community of Ogoniland in Rivers State. The spill contaminated water bodies and farmlands and led to outcries from residents and environmental rights groups over the slow and inadequate response.
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Other recent events include the Shell Saver Pit Overflow in Ogale, Rivers State, on February 3, 2025, which caused an overflow during maintenance, spilling crude. Shell’s team quickly contained it, and authorities were notified.
Repeated spills in Ogboinbiri/Tebidaba, Bayelsa State, between September 2024 and May 2025, from an Oando pipeline that had suffered eight spills across nine months. Environmental Defenders of Nigeria (EDEN) reports that at least four were due to equipment failure, as communities lament ongoing ecological damage and lack of cleanup. On November 23, 2024, the NNPCL pipeline at Iloma, Rivers State, ruptured, affecting Iloma, Epelema, Orupiri, Minima, Oloma, and Oguede. The spill contaminated rivers and farms, forcing evacuations and disrupting livelihoods.
The Nigerian oil spill crisis is not a new occurrence. But what is most concerning is its increasing frequency, the breadth of its impact, and the growing gap in accountability. Data from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) show that Nigeria recorded at least 589 oil spill incidents in 2024, amounting to over 19,000 barrels of spilled crude. These figures, while slightly lower than in previous years, still reflect an alarming environmental burden, particularly in the Niger Delta.
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has reported a 122 percent rise in spill incidents from its operations in 2024, with 20 major incidents confirmed. In February 2025, Shell’s ‘saver pits’ in Ogale, though Shell claimed the spill was quickly contained, but environmentalists and residents disputed the speed and transparency of the cleanup process.
“As it stands, oil companies operate with impunity, while host communities pay the price in health, livelihoods, and environmental degradation.”
Beyond the operational failures, there is also a worrying pattern of infrastructure decay and sabotage. In Bayelsa State, the Ogboinbiri/Tebidaba trunk line operated by Oando has suffered at least eight spill events within nine months. Environmentalists, such as EDEN, have linked several of these incidents to equipment failure, underscoring the urgent need for pipeline rehabilitation and stronger oversight.
Perhaps the most devastating recent incident occurred on November 23, 2024, when a pipeline operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) burst in Iloma and neighbouring communities in Rivers State. The spill affected six communities, destroyed aquatic life, polluted rivers, and ruined farmlands. In its wake, displaced residents demanded immediate intervention, but many are still awaiting relief and cleanup over six months later.
The Nigerian government must do more than merely react to spills. It must establish preventive systems, enforce stronger penalties for sabotage and negligence, and ensure that operators, both local and multinational, are held accountable. As it stands, oil companies operate with impunity, while host communities pay the price in health, livelihoods, and environmental degradation.
President Bola Tinubu’s administration must not treat oil spills as inevitable collateral damage in Nigeria’s economic journey. Nigeria’s crude oil exports may fund the federal purse, but the human and environmental cost borne by Niger Delta communities is unjustifiable. NOSDRA must be empowered with real-time monitoring technology, legal autonomy, and funding to enforce stricter environmental standards.
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Furthermore, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which came into effect in 2021, must be used as a tool for enforcing environmental compliance, not just fiscal regulation. Sections of the Act that deal with host community development funds must prioritise environmental restoration projects, emergency response preparedness, and compensation for affected residents.
Nigeria cannot continue to aspire toward a cleaner, more inclusive economy while its most vulnerable regions remain caught in a cycle of pollution and neglect. Oil may still power Nigeria’s economy, but it is destroying the very land and people that host its extraction.
If the country is serious about energy transition, sustainable development, and justice, then the Niger Delta must no longer be treated as expendable. The time for action, transparency, and reform is now.
