New revelations have surfaced regarding the environmental devastation of the years-long oil spill case in Nigeria’s Ogoniland, with countless promises of remediation failing to bring lasting change. A recent BBC investigation uncovered allegations that energy giant Shell repeatedly ignored several warnings about pervasive Corruption in the cleanup initiatives of oil-polluted areas in southern Nigeria, especially Ogoniland. The $1 billion cleanup project, managed by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation initiative (Hyprep) and funded by Shell and other oil companies, has been accused of inflating costs, granting contracts to inexperienced firms, and obstructing independent audits.
According to the BBC report, whistleblowers described the project as a “scam” that benefits contractors and politicians while exposing Ogoni villages to continuous environmental hazards. Evidence indicates that Shell and the Nigerian government were repeatedly warned of significant shortcomings over a number of years, despite their insistence that the project, which started eight years ago, is moving forward smoothly. These BBC findings come as two Ogoni communities, representing over 50,000 people, are challenging Shell in a civil trial in the UK High Court for pollution that happened between 1989 and 2020.
BBC findings expose unresolved pollution in Bodo cleanup.
It was noted that the long-term Oil Spills have toppled the communities’ capacity to fish and cultivate, made their land uninhabitable, and jeopardized their health. Whereas Shell disputes a large portion of the damage, claiming that theft and sabotage—not operational errors—were to be blamed. This is not the only clean-up initiative in Ogoniland that has generated criticism. In 2015, Shell agreed to pay £55 million to clean up two major oil spills in Bodo from 2008, with the remediation conducted under the Bodo Mediation Initiative (BMI) and partially funded by Shell, eventually being declared 98% complete.
However, BBC reporters who visited the location discovered that crude oil was still floating on the water and leaking from the soil. Shell and BMI maintained that any pollution that remained was not the result of a cleaning procedure failure, but rather of continuous oil theft. At a 2023 meeting that was attended by representatives of Hyprep, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, concerns were expressed that “incompetent” contractors were still being hired, endangering additional environmental damage. According to the BBC, laboratory results were “regularly reported with deviations” in another leaked report from the same year.
Lingering pollution attributed to illegal refining and theft.
The energy giant, which made its first oil discovery in the Niger Delta in 1956, insists that it cleans up oil spills from its operations and pays out to impacted communities when its operations create spills. The corporation has long, however, attributed the widespread pollution in the area to illegal refining, sabotage, and oil theft. In November 2024, Shell even urged the Nigerian government to address the illicit refining activities and crude Oil Theft plaguing the country. An estimated 13 million barrels (1.5 million tons) of crude oil have leaked throughout the Niger Delta since oil production started, according to UNEP, depriving thousands of people of sustainable livelihoods, farmland, and clean drinking water.
Adding to the uncertainty is the ongoing divestment by Shell and plans to sell its Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), to Renaissance Africa, a group of domestic and foreign businesses. Some Ogoniland locals accused the corporation of “running away” from its obligations while still making money off of the oil that is extracted in the area. One key issue that has been the center topic is the long-term health catastrophe caused by oil contamination in Ogoniland. According to studies conducted by UNEP and other independent health researchers, populations in the Niger Delta have much higher rates of birth abnormalities, respiratory illnesses, and Cancer as a result of long-term exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons.
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More recent research revealed that the amount of benzene in Ogoniland’s drinking water is about 900 times higher than the WHO’s recommended safe level. Roughly 90% of Nigeria’s Export earnings come from the oil and gas industry, with the Niger Delta providing the majority of the production. However, for many communities in the region, oil has brought nothing but suffering. Once-thriving farmers and fishermen now struggle to survive, stuck in polluted terrain. With Shell’s exit pending and legal battles ongoing, the question remains: will Ogoniland ever see real environmental justice?