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Bayelsa Demands US$12 billion from IOCs for Environmental and Health Damages through Oil Exploration

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Bayelsa Demands US$12 billion from IOCs for Environmental and Health Damages through Oil Exploration

By: Michael Mike

Bayelsa State Governor,Duoye Diri has demanded from international oil companies (IOCs) US$12 billion over the course of 12 years for the repair, remediation and restoration of the environment and public health damage caused by oil and gas exploration and to lay the foundations for Bayelsa’s just transition towards renewable energy and opportunities for alternative livelihoods.

The governor made the demand on Wednesday in Abuja at the International Oil Pollution and Just Transition Conference.

He lamented that: “Not too many decades ago, we could cast nets into abundant waters, reaping enough catch to nourish entire families. However, the oil boom has brought doom. Our lifeblood – our rivers – now flow with toxic oil residue instead of vibrant life.

“We are a people of the river and the land; fishing and farming were once our essence. These vocations, passed down through generations, taught us patience, respect for nature, and the value of hard work. But the unchecked activities of International Oil Companies (IOCs) have turned the prolific rivers and fertile soil of Bayelsa into a wasteland.”

He equally decried that: “Our breadwinners, robbed of their ancestral legacy, toil on unforgiving, polluted land and fish in toxic waters, only to return with empty nets. Their families face crippling hunger and suffocating despair.”

The governor, who revealed that he just received a report from the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, titled “An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human and Environmental Costs of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria,” said: “One study estimates that in 2012 alone, oil spills in Nigeria, and predominantly in the Niger Delta resulted in over 16,000 additional neonatal deaths.”

He stated that: “Indeed, Oil pollution and relentless gas flaring have engendered a grim tapestry of alien health conditions in Bayelsa; children are being born with severe deformities, respiratory diseases flourish, stubbornly defying even the most advanced medical interventions and therapies. Cancers, once a rarity have surged in prevalence, infiltrating the villages like a spectre that haunts the very fabric of daily life.

“The environment itself has become a crucible of suffering. The air hangs thick with toxins, while the water, once a source of life, now flows with pollutants that carry the weight of despair. This unrelenting barrage of environmental degradation has transformed Bayelsa into an epicentre of health crises, forging a reality where illness and suffering have become the norm rather than the exception.”

Diri said the report notes that as a direct consequence, “Life expectancy in Bayelsa has plummeted to just 50 years” sinking well below levels deemed acceptable by global standards, adding that: “Despite these burdens, we continue to demonstrate an indomitable spirit, navigating daily struggles with a painful resilience that belies our longing for a healthier and more hopeful future.

He noted that: “This Report therefore, has not only captured our plight, but it has also amplified our voice; a voice that has cried out for decades, unheard. For too long, we’ve pleaded for mercy, only to be met with indifference. Our children’s futures, our heritage, and our very existence hang in the balance. And today, I bring that voice before you.”

The governor said: “Let me echo a resounding call of the Commission to the IOCs that: “concerted international action to generate and invest at least US $12 billion over the course of 12 years to repair, remediate and restore the environmental and public health damage caused by oil and gas and to lay the foundations for Bayelsa’s just transition towards renewable energy and opportunities for alternative livelihoods, adding that: “This I believe is not limited to Bayelsa State alone, therefore, I call on my brother Governors from the oil producing states to join hands with us in this battle for environmental justice.”

In his welcome address , the Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, said the conference comes at a pivotal moment in the socioecological history of Nigeria, noting that: “Extractivism and accompanied pollution has wreaked extensive damage in the physical, socioeconomic and cultural spheres of our national life. They have worked together to build a warped future, which must be deconstructed, and reconstructed.”

He revealed that: “The report highlighted the incredible extent of petroleum pollution in Bayelsa State and has given us a vivid picture of the extreme damage that almost seven decades of crude oil exploitation has done to the entire Niger Delta region particularly with regard to both environmental and human health. It is pure environmental genocide and there is no way to sugarcoat its horrors.”

He noted that: “The report is riddled with facts that are almost unimaginable. For example it tells us that there is a 1.5 barrels per capita crude oil pollution of Bayelsa State. It affirms an atrocious level of harm visited on the state including that there is the total hydrocarbons pollution of the water in the state at 1 million times above safe or acceptable standards. One million times above safe standards.

“We note that the pollution is from both old and active wells, flow stations and pipelines. Indeed, abandoned and decrepit oil infrastructure continue to pose extreme menace to the environment and the people of the State. Some communities have been ripped apart by canalization; while others face the threat of being washed into the ocean by combined forces of subsidence, sea level rise and coastal erosion.

“Our water channels are blatantly and recklessly used as waste dumps for produced water and sundry harmful wastesin disregard to ecological and human safety. Our lands and water bodies are privatized and damaged, through acts of egregious industrial vandalism and systemic environmental racism, emanating from the worst forms of colonial resource extraction and land grabbing.”

Bayelsa Demands US$12 billion from IOCs for Environmental and Health Damages through Oil Exploration

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Sokoto: Man Arrested for Killing Woman in Domestic Dispute

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Sokoto: Man Arrested for Killing Woman in Domestic Dispute

By: Zagazola Makama

A domestic dispute in Sagera Ango Village, Gada LGA, turned deadly on April 2, 2025, when Ali Garba, during a heated argument with A’isha Araga, attacked her with a cutlass.

The altercation, which escalated quickly, resulted in Ali Garba inflicting severe injuries on A’isha’s neck and other parts of her body.

Security personnel, responded promptly to the scene and rushed A’isha to General Hospital Gada for medical treatment. However, she succumbed to her injuries while receiving care.

Ali Garba was immediately apprehended by the police and is in custody.

The case has been handed over to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Criminal Investigation Department (DC CID), for further discreet investigation.

Sokoto: Man Arrested for Killing Woman in Domestic Dispute

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15 Arrested as Clash Between Nomadic Fulani and Hausa Community Leads to Fatality in Zamfara

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15 Arrested as Clash Between Nomadic Fulani and Hausa Community Leads to Fatality in Zamfara

By: Zagazola Makama

A deadly clash broke out between members of the nomadic Fulani and Hausa communities at Dan Sokoto Model Primary School in Bungudu Township, Zamfara State, during the celebration of Eid-El-Fitr on April 1, 2025.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the altercation resulted in the death of 17-year-old Abbas Sani, a resident of Kuga Village.

He was found in a pool of blood and was rushed to General Hospital Bungudu, where he was confirmed dead by medical personnel. The body was subsequently deposited at the hospital morgue.

In response to the incident, security forces launched an intensive raid in the area, leading to the arrest of 15 suspects.

15 Arrested as Clash Between Nomadic Fulani and Hausa Community Leads to Fatality in Zamfara

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One Killed, Three Injured in Bandit Attack in Safana, Katsina

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One Killed, Three Injured in Bandit Attack in Safana, Katsina

By: Zagazola Makama

A bandit attack in Bajat and Dole villages, located in Zakka Safana Local Government Area, left one person dead and three others injured on the evening of April 1, 2025.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the attack occurred at approximately 6:30 PM when a group of armed assailants opened fire on the villages.

Nura Baushe, a local vigilante commander, was killed, while three others, Amadu Dole, Surajo Shehu, and Shafiu Sulaiman, sustained gunshot wounds. The injured victims were rushed to the Federal Teaching Hospital in Katsina for medical treatment.

The body of the deceased was handed over to his family for burial.

One Killed, Three Injured in Bandit Attack in Safana, Katsina

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