By Elvira Jordan
Community leaders in Ikono and Ibiono Ibom Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State have called for the cleanup and decommissioning of abandoned oil wells drilled by Shell Petroleum Development Company decades ago, saying the infrastructure has continued to affect their livelihoods and environment long after oil extraction ceased.
The demand was made during a capacity-sharing dialogue organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, under its Fossil Politics project at Ikot Enua..
Traditional rulers, women, youths and other community members used the meeting to document their experiences around abandoned oil infrastructure and discuss environmental rights, accountability and possible pathways to restoration.
Community members reported declining crop yields, polluted streams, disappearing fish and snails, destruction of economic trees, damaged property, insecurity and loss of livelihoods, which they linked to the legacy of oil exploration in their communities.
HOMEF Executive Director, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said communities affected by abandoned oil infrastructure must have a meaningful role in decisions concerning their territories.
Bassey, who referenced continuing gas bubbling and fire incidents in Bille, Rivers State, as examples of the risks associated with petroleum infrastructure, said communities understand the challenges in their territories better than outsiders.
“Communities must speak for themselves. They live here and understand the issues better than outsiders,” he said.
The Executive Director of Peace Point Development Foundation, Umo Isua Ikoh, also described what he called the unequal distribution of the benefits and burdens of oil extraction.
“Oil can be a blessing to Abuja but never to the host communities,” Ikoh said, citing Ikot Ebidang in Onna Local Government Area, where he said an ongoing flare had displaced members of the host community.
However, Chief Kingsley Ekpo of Ikot Idaha Community expressed hope that oil beneath their land could eventually benefit the community.
HOMEF said such expectations reflect decades of presenting oil extraction as a pathway to development, while communities across the Niger Delta continue to report pollution, livelihood losses and inadequate infrastructure.
The organisation argued that the response to abandoned oil wells should not be renewed extraction, but the decommissioning of hazardous infrastructure, cleanup of polluted areas, restoration of ecosystems and support for affected livelihoods.
The organizations jointly called on the Federal Government, Shell, regulatory agencies and the Akwa Ibom State Government to address outstanding claims concerning the abandoned Ikono 1 oil well, including environmental remediation, compensation and restoration.
The organisation also referred to the 2013 Court of Appeal decision in Eteidung Raymond F. Obot & Ors. v. Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited, which it said allowed environmental claims from 2006 onward to proceed.
HOMEF demanded the proper assessment, decommissioning and removal of abandoned wells and hazardous infrastructure, alongside comprehensive cleanup and ecological restoration.
It also called for investigation of reported health concerns and long-term environmental monitoring, meaningful participation of affected communities and compensation for lost farmland, crops, economic trees, fishing grounds, property and livelihoods.
The organisation further advocated support for non-extractive livelihoods, including sustainable farming, fishing and ecological restoration.
HOMEF said the experiences of communities in Ikono and Ibiono Ibom demonstrate that the environmental consequences of oil extraction can persist long after commercial operations have ended.
It maintained that abandoned oil infrastructure should not mark the end of responsibility, insisting that affected lands and waters must be restored and communities empowered to pursue sustainable livelihoods beyond extractive activities.
