Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

Box 3.3: Summary of Some Oil Spills in the Niger Delta
Date Episode State Quantity in barrels
July,1979 Forcados terminal oil spillage Rivers 570,000
Jan,1980 Funiwa No. 5 well blowout Rivers 400,000
May,1980 Oyakama oil spillage Rivers 10,000
Nov,1982 System 2c Warri-Kaduna
pipeline rupture at Abudu Edo 18,000
August,1983 Oshika oil spill Rivers 10,000
Jan,1998 Idoho oil spill Akwa Ibom 40,000
1998 Jones Creek Delta 21,548
Oct,1998 Jesse oil spill Delta 10,000
May,2000 Etiama oil spill Bayelsa 11,000
Dec,2003 Aghada oil spill Rivers Unknown
August,2005 Ughelli oil spill Delta 10,000
August,2004 Ewan oil spill Ondo Unknown
Source: Nwankwo and Ifeadi (1988); Eka and Udoyong (2003);several newspaper reports
Note: The data on oil spills and causal factors could prove to be different from those from the Department of Petroleum
Resources if made available.
Box 3.4: Lamentation by an Edo State Indigenous Person about Oil Industry Activities
Three cases of industrial accidents were recorded during the month of August 2000. They were all fatal. The first one
occurred because of a ruptured PPMC pipeline while product was being discharged from a vessel into the depot storage
tank, from Calcerico jetty to Calabar depot. About 18 people were killed as the villagers scooped leaked fuel into jerry
cans. What ruptured the pipeline could not be immediately ascertained. The second incident occurred when a petrol
tanker fell on its side and exploded at Ibilo market in Akoko-Edo, Edo State. Twelve persons were burnt to death, thirty
sustained injuries and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed. The third incident occurred during a transfer
operation from MV Walvis 11 to MV Walvis 10 at MPNU BOP, located at OML 70, offshore Akwa Ibom State.
Source: Department of Petroleum Resources cited in Ekpo 2004.
Until very recently,
Nigeria flared about 75
per cent of its gas, a
monumentally wasteful
practice that also causes
pollution and damages
biodiversity.
Gas leaks and flares: There is evidence
that gas leaks also occur in parts of the
Niger Delta. Bubbling has been observed
in certain swamps. This means that an
unknown amount of hydrocarbons may be
affecting the water organisms and is being
emitted into the atmosphere.
A typical example of gas flares in the region
The World Bank (2005) estimated that
Nigeria flares about 75 per cent of the gas
it produces due to the lack of a local
market and infrastructure. A study of the
ambient air pollutants in the Niger Delta
region by Oluwole et al. (1996) indicates
that the Federal Environmental Protection
78 NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT