Niger Delta Environmental Crisis: Forensic Investigation Key To Uncovering Damage – Experts

A dire environmental situation has been unfolding in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, where decades of oil exploration and extraction have taken a devastating toll on local ecosystems and communities.

Experts are now turning to forensic investigation as a crucial tool in uncovering the extent of the damage and holding those responsible accountable.

It is an open secret that the Niger Delta region, once a thriving ecosystem, has been ravaged by oil spills, gas flaring, and deforestation.

And environmentalists have estimated that over 1,223 homes have sunk into the Atlantic Ocean in the Awoye community in Ondo State.

The Awoye community, just like a typical case of communities in double jeopardy in the region, is faced with a fire that has been burning for five years off the coast and no report of either the government or multinational corporations taking adequate action to address the situation.

But for the efforts of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), which has embarked on a massive mangrove restoration programme, the region’s mangrove forests, a vital source of livelihood for local communities, would have been destroyed, and the air, water, and soil would have been heavily polluted.

Forensic Investigation: A Pathway to Justice

Dr Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), emphasised the importance of forensic investigation in uncovering hidden environmental damage in the Niger Delta.

According to him, “Forensic investigation shows the close correlation between colonialism and the way resources are being extracted today.”

Speaking at the Right Livelihood College Lecture 2025, Dr Bassey noted that forensic investigation can be used to unearth the history of environmental degradation and pollution in the region.

The lecture, organised by the Right Livelihood College in collaboration with the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, highlighted the need for a multidisciplinary approach to addressing environmental and climate justice issues in the Niger Delta region.

He pointed out that by leveraging forensic investigation and community-led documentation, it is possible to uncover the truth about environmental damage and hold those responsible accountable.

Dr Bassey emphasised the importance of forensic investigation as a tool for recovering what has been lost and holding those responsible accountable. “Forensic investigation provides evidence, and the government could collect the evidence and use it to recover what has been lost and to know who is responsible,” he said.

Forensic Architecture Expert Sounds Alarm on Niger Delta Environmental Crisis

To further lend credence to calls for not just a face value evaluation of environmental degradation, a forensic architecture expert, Tobechukwu Onwukeme, has raised the alarm about the devastating environmental crisis in the Niger Delta region, particularly in Awoye, Ondo State.

Onwukeme, who is the Vice Chair at Forensic Architecture, revealed that over 1,223 homes have sunk into the Atlantic Ocean in the Awoye community, and a fire has been burning for five years off the coast, with neither the government nor multinational corporations taking adequate action to address the situation.

The Humanitarian Crisis

Onwukeme described the situation as a “grave injustice” and a “great disgrace” to Nigeria, highlighting the humanitarian crisis faced by the affected communities.

Speaking in an interview after presenting his keynote paper, the Livelihood College Lecture series, he said, “These are fathers and mothers who have up to ten children, some of them fourteen children, who wake up at 5 am to struggle for survival. You have families who are up to ten, fifteen, or twenty people who are now homeless on the coast of Nigeria.”

The Devastating Impact

The expert explained that the coastal erosion and oil spills have destroyed the livelihoods of the people, leaving them without homes, food, or clean air.

“The fire has been burning for five years, disrupting the marine system, and the erosion has destroyed their livelihoods,” Onwukeme said. “You have no homes to sleep in, no food to eat, and the air they have to breathe is poison. It’s no longer an ecocide; it’s almost like genocide.”

The Importance of Forensic Architecture

Onwukeme, just like Bassey, emphasised the importance of forensic architecture in documenting and investigating environmental crimes.

He noted that forensic architecture was developed in response to reducing the exclusivity of academia and opening it up to the public, saying these technologies, such as mapping, cartography, and 3D modelling, allow people to develop a resolution that can bring justice to the affected communities.

Onwukeme called for accountability and justice for the affected communities.

“These companies, mostly Shell, Chevron, BP, and AGIP, need to take accountability for the millions of lives they’ve killed and the several hectares of land they’ve destroyed,” Onwukeme said. “The government needs to invest in facilities that will allow people to engage in forensic techniques and hold these companies accountable for their actions.”

In his opening remarks, Professor Owunari Georgewill, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, emphasised the importance of finding solutions to the environmental and climate justice struggles in the Niger Delta.

He noted that the region, despite fuelling the global economy, is itself plagued by oil spills, gas flaring, and devastated livelihoods.

He said, “The Niger Delta has been trapped in a cycle of extraction with little accountability, growth, equity, and wealth without wellness.

“The people’s voices have too often been silenced under the weight of corporate interests and complexities.”

The Vice-Chancellor highlighted the significance of forensic investigation in achieving environmental justice, saying, “The choice of forensic investigation as a pathway to environmental justice is not accidental. It signals a radical shift from mere lamentation to evidence-based accountability; from rhetoric to rigorous proof that can stand before courts of law, institutions of governance, and the conscience of the world.”

Professor Georgewill, however, urged the stakeholders to think critically and act courageously to address the environmental and climate justice issues in the Niger Delta.

“Let us ask: How can forensic methodologies dismantle the entrenched impunity of environmental crimes?” he said. “How can we connect the struggles of Ogoni, Bonny, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, etc., with the broader global fight against climate injustice?”

Consequently, the vice-chancellor emphasised the need for global solidarity and collective action to address the environmental and climate justice issues in the Niger Delta.

“This lecture must not end with applause; it must propel us into action,” he said. “The Niger Delta cannot wait any longer. The earth cannot wait any longer. Our task is urgent, our responsibility collective, and our vision must be uncompromisingly just.”

For Onwukeme, who urged the Nigerian government and multinational corporations to take immediate action to address the crisis, warning that the entire map of Nigeria will change if this situation is not addressed.

“Nigerians, the Nigerian government, and these multinational corporations should take action immediately because, as we speak, the 1,323 homes that have sunk into the ocean are just a number that can increase tomorrow,” Onwukeme said.

Dr Bassey called on governments to take action to protect the environment and the people. “Government needs to stand on the side of the people, respond to their needs, listen to their cries, and make life bearable for the people,” he said. “Our governments in Africa need to stop using colonial methodologies, using force to take land from people, and prioritising the needs of their own people.”