Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Nigeria

Oil spill in Ogoniland

    ABIDJAN

    A clean-up operation was scheduled to begin on Wednesday in the southern Nigerian state of Rivers after an unspecified amount of oil belonging to Shell spilled at the company’s Yorla oil field in Ogoniland, the Lagos-based ‘Guardian’ newspaper reported. The cause of the spill has not been determined. However, a Shell spokesman told the daily that similar spills in the past resulted from “people tampering with the facilities”. US oil experts are to conduct the cleanup.

    This is the latest incident in the troubled relationship between Shell and the Ogoni community. The Anglo-Dutch transnational was forced to stop production in the area in 1993 after a local organisation, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, accused it of exploitation and ecological damage.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join