Nigeria has recorded over 4000 oil spills in 6 years – Minister

Dr Mohammad Abubakar, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment stated that Nigeria recorded 4,919 oil spills between 2015 and March 2021.

The Minister disclosed this at the Town Hall meeting in Abuja, organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture, on protecting oil and gas infrastructure.

What he said

“According to the National Oil Spill Detection Agency (NOSDRA) data, the total number of oil spills recorded from 2015 to March 2021 is 4,919, the number of oil spills cost by collation is 308.

The operational maintenance is 106, while sabotage is 3,628 and yet to be determined 70, giving the total number of oil spills on the environment to 235,206 barrels of oil. This is very colossal to the environment.

Nigeria also lost approximately 4.75 trillion on oil activities in the four years between 2015 and 2018, as estimated by the Nigeria Natural Resources Charter. Several statistics have emphasised Nigeria as the most notorious country in the world for oil spills, losing roughly 400,000 barrels per day.

The country is followed by Mexico that has reported only 5,000 to 10,000 barrels per day, thus a difference of about 3,900 percent. 

Attack on oil facilities has become the innovation that replaced agitations in the Niger Delta region against perceived poor governance and neglect of the area,” the Minister said.

He added that the impacts of vandalism of oil facilities have not only caused pollution of the environment but had consequences on the local people, the national economy and security.

The Minister also said that the FG introduced the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act to ensure that measures are put in place to assist in the reduction of the negative effects and enhancement of the positive effects on the ecology, health and social wellbeing of communities.

He stated that oil pollution increases air pollution and the attendant climate change issues, has public health impacts on affected communities, has negative social impacts and causes loss of livelihood, brings about militancy and a host of other issues.