By Uko Etim
Environmental experts have raised serious concerns over the dangers posed by abandoned, non-decommissioned oil wells scattered across the Niger Delta, describing them as “ticking time bombs” capable of triggering large-scale environmental and public health crises.
The warning came during a two-day School of Ecology workshop organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Uyo, where activists, scholars and environmental advocates examined the long-term impacts of decades of oil exploration.
Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said the failure of oil companies to properly decommission expired wells has left communities exposed to severe risks, including fires, explosions, pollution and the gradual destruction of farmlands and water bodies.
“Many of the young people in the Niger Delta were not born when oil drilling began in the 1950s, so they may not fully understand the errors made by our ancestors,” he said. “Those abandoned wells are not just harmless Christmas trees. They are time bombs.”
Bassey recalled several incidents in which abandoned wells burst into flames, including the explosion at Ikot Adaudo in Akwa Ibom, which burned for months, and a similar incident at Santa Barbara in Bayelsa.
He criticised policymakers who make decisions from Abuja without ever witnessing an oil spill or visiting an oil-producing community. He called for urgent action from both government and oil companies to decommission all expired wells to prevent further disasters.
“Any oil well that has reached the end of its life must be decommissioned and blocked,” he said. “Government should not approve any new oil wells until the mess created over nearly 70 years of oil exploration is cleaned up.”
He added that the School of Ecology initiative is aimed at empowering young people to take up leadership in climate action, especially at a time when global leaders have shown limited interest in environmental justice.
Founder of the Centre for Children Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEHOPE), Ms Betty Abah, said oil spills from abandoned wells continue to contaminate water sources, destroy aquatic life and erode the livelihoods of women who depend on fishing and farming.
She stressed that women bear the brunt of the pollution because of their physiological vulnerability and called for women to be included in environmental decision-making processes.
Also speaking, Director of the Centre for Transformative Governance, Mr Jaye Gaskiya, noted that environmental justice is often mistakenly seen as a Niger Delta problem, even though the effects of climate change and environmental degradation are felt across the country.
He urged Nigerian youths to unite and spearhead a national movement for climate justice, arguing that environmental protection is critical to the survival of agriculture and the economy.
The workshop concluded with a renewed call for coordinated action to address the growing danger posed by abandoned oil wells, as communities continue to suffer from the ecological fallout of decades-long extractive activities.
