The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has called for urgent cleanup, compensation and full accountability following an oil spill at the Nembe Creek facility in Bayelsa State, which has disrupted fishing activities and threatened the livelihoods of coastal communities.
The spill occurred on August 22, 2026, during crude oil loading operations at a facility operated by Nembe Exploration and Production Limited, formerly Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Limited, within Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29.
Following a field visit to the affected area, HOMEF said it found crude oil in the water and along mangrove banks around Nembe Creek.
The organisation said the smell of crude was noticeable about two kilometres from the community, while residents reported that tidal movements had carried the pollution through interconnected waterways and fishing settlements.
The affected communities depend largely on fishing for food and income. Residents told HOMEF that the spill had damaged fishing nets, reduced fish catches and made the river unsuitable for fishing and domestic use, with aquatic resources reportedly disappearing from affected waterways.
Vice-Chairlady of Nembe Creek women, Love Mark, said the pollution had made fishing impossible for many residents.
“We cannot go out with our fishing nets and hooks for fishing again,” she said, adding that crude-contaminated fishing nets had become unusable. According to her, a fishing net costs between N150,000 and N170,000.
The paramount ruler of the Nembe Creek communities, HRH Agent Anthony Waya, said repeated pollution had severely damaged fishing livelihoods in the area.
“Due to the destruction of the aquatic lives, there are no fish in the river; people would go fishing in two or three canoes and return with nothing,” he said.
Following the incident, community women reportedly protested at the oil facility, demanding immediate cleanup, assessment of the damage and support for affected residents.
A Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) reportedly identified operational failure as the cause of the latest spill. However, HOMEF said that as of September 1, the volume of crude released and the full geographical extent of the pollution remained inconclusive.
Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said determining the cause of the spill should not mark the end of accountability.
He noted that the latest incident occurred against the background of previous pollution incidents associated with OML 29, including the prolonged 2021 Santa Barbara Well 1 blowout, stressing that recurring spills should be treated as a systemic environmental governance problem rather than isolated incidents.
HOMEF urged Nembe Exploration and Production Limited, the Bayelsa State Government and relevant federal regulatory agencies to publish the complete JIV findings, undertake an independent environmental assessment, commence comprehensive cleanup and ecological restoration, and provide immediate relief and compensation to affected households.
The organisation also called for the inclusion of all affected communities and fishing camps in investigations, damage assessments, cleanup and monitoring, alongside sustained monitoring of water, sediments, fish and other aquatic organisms.
HOMEF further urged authorities and the operator to strengthen spill prevention and emergency response systems and address the wider pollution legacy of OML 29.
It also called for protection of fishing livelihoods from the broader operational impacts of crude-loading activities, including navigational buoys and vessel movements.
The foundation said communities should no longer bear the environmental and economic costs of oil extraction without meaningful accountability, urging authorities to make pollution prevention, transparent investigations, community participation, ecological restoration and livelihood recovery central to environmental governance in Nembe.
Blessing Ibunge
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