Radiation detected in the Niger River

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The Niger, Africa’s third-longest river after the Nile and Congo, is a vital lifeline for millions of people.

A recent study by Nigerian scientists has revealed alarming levels of radioactive contamination and hazardous chemicals in the Niger Delta’s coastal areas. Analysis of water and fish samples showed that uranium and thorium levels were four times higher than the global average, while background gamma radiation was nearly twice the safe limit.

236300403.pdf (1.1 MB)

These substances, potentially released during oil spills and gas flaring, contribute to the region’s air and water pollution.

The research also identified harmful chemicals, including lead, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, in both the water and fish tissue. These substances, potentially released during oil spills and gas flaring, contribute to the region’s air and water pollution.

Researchers are urging Nigerian authorities to take immediate action to clean up the Niger Delta. They’ve also warned local communities about the risks of consuming contaminated water and fish.

By 2010, between 9 million and 13 million barrels were estimated to have been spilt in the Niger Delta since 1958. From 1976 to 2018, a total of 17,301 spills occurred, dumping nearly three million barrels of oil into the environment.
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The likely causes include oil corporations’ activities like gas flaring and oil spills. Sadly, this particular incident was not tackled despite protests by the citizens.

Nigeria’s Niger delta biohazards – high radioactive levels detected in new study

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The issue of pollution of the Niger was first brought to the world’s attention in the mid-1990s, when Ken Saro-Wiwa, of the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta and spokesman and later president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), took part in a protest movement that forced Royal Dutch Petroleum (Shell) to withdraw from Ogoni territory[1], where its activities had caused devastating environmental damage.

MOSOP’s demands are set out in ‘The Ogoni Bill of Right’, a document that includes a demand for greater autonomy for their community, fair taxation on the profits created by oil extraction on Ogoni land and compensation for the ecological damage created by the multinationals in place.

In response, Nigerian government forces attacked and burnt down Ogoni towns, tortured and arbitrarily executed Ogoni men and women, and arrested the main leaders of the protest movement on trumped-up charges [2].

On 10 November 1995, the Nigerian military regime executed nine Ogoni leaders, including Saro-Wiwa, by hanging in Port Harcourt by order of the Nigerian government under General Sani Abacha.

But neither the government nor Shell has been held to account for environmental damage or human rights abuses[3].
Many environmental and human rights groups around the world have continued to campaign on the violations, the issue of accountability and the clean-up of the Niger Delta.

Notes and references

  1. New York Times “Blood and Oil: A Special Report; After Nigeria Represses, Shell Defends its Record” https://web.archive.org/web/20121203051346/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/13/world/blood-and-oil-a-special-report-after-nigeria-represses-shell-defends-its-record.html ↩︎

  2. Center for Constitutional Rights “Wiwa et al v. Royal Dutch Petroleum et al” Wiwa et al v. Royal Dutch Petroleum et al. | Center for Constitutional Rights ↩︎

  3. Center for Justice and Accountability “Kiobel v. Shell” Kiobel v. Shell – CJA ↩︎