A major environmental crisis has hit Bille community, a coastal Niger Delta community in Degema LGA, Rivers State, turning the community into a land of fear.
For more than one year now, gas has continued to escape from under the ground all around the community and the surrounding water bodies, making Bille a risky place to live in and causing untold damage to the marine ecosystems.
Sadly, since the problem started, the authorities have failed to take decisive actions to rescue the dwellers and the environment despite sustained calls for action by the people and other concerned organisations and stakeholders. Government response has been rather slow and discouraging. This puts a big question mark on the capacity and commitment of the government to protect the environment and marine ecosystems.
The problem started sometime in September 2025 when a local fisherman noticed bubbling gas near an oil facility, a flow station at the Krakra 1 flow station in Bille kingdom, which is within the OML 18 Corridor. Close to the place are signposts issuing warnings of high-pressure gas lines. Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC) was the major oil company operating in Bille until divestment took the Multinational oil giant out of the community. New Cross Exploration and Production Ltd, (NewcrossEP), an indigenous oil and gas company, is now the major operator in the area.
The youth leader of the community, Miebaka Ameomosu, informed this publication that when the fisherman raised the alarm over what he noticed, the community leaders promptly reported the incident to the Degema Council Chairman after going there to confirm the information brought up by the fisherman. The Council Chairman then accordingly reported to regulatory agencies, notably NOSDRA and NUPRC.
While the community members were awaiting the intervention of the regulatory agencies, the leakage, from the spot where it was first discovered spread gradually until nearly every part of the community became bubbling spots and escape points for the gas. Water boreholes, wells, rivers, creeks, waterways, now bubble endlessly as the gas escapes out of the ground.
The Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), a Port Harcourt-based human rights and environment-focused NGO, told this publication that the gas leakage is now experienced in virtually every corner of the community, destroying water sources, ending livelihoods, threatening homes and lives, and causing untold hardship on the residents of this once bubbling fishing community of over 15,000 persons.
When this publication visited the community, many community members were worried and frightened. They expressed serious concerns over their safety and survival.
Our reporter who visited the community also disclosed that multiple spots on the river surface where gas appeared to be escaping continuously were observed. Water in the wells, both abandoned and active, as well as boreholes in homes were bubbling with a hissing noise like boiling water. Community members lamented that they no longer had potable water because their sources of water have been destroyed by the gas pollution.
“Our water now smells, and we can no longer use it for anything,” said a female member of the community, Madam Elfreda.
The whole place had a stench of rotten eggs, said to be the smell of sulphur dioxide, noted our reporter.
“When water was scooped from wells and the river with a transparent ‘Ragolis water container, it turned to black liquid almost immediately. The leakage has turned the air we breathe into poisoned air,” said Elfreda.
The foul odour in the community suggested that some dangerous gases were being released at the time this publication visited the community.
A statement issued by NOSDRA after its assessment of the situation in December 2025 noted that both air and water quality in Bille has been significantly compromised. A data analysis carried out by the agency confirmed that there was the presence of methane, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and hydrogen sulphide in ambient air in the community. These are all dangerous to human survival, said a public health expert who pleaded anonymity.
NOSDRA further confirmed elevated total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in soils, surface and underground water and sediments as a result of the gas leakage. The agency refused to mention the source of the leakage, but ruled out oil operations as the cause.
However, an environmental Scientist, Meshak Uyi, who participated in an in situ investigation of the leakage, stated that available evidence from investigation of samples collected at the site suggests that the released gas is more consistent with raw (sour) gas than processed natural gas.
Furthermore, the pressurised nature of the emissions are more likely associated with a compromised or inadequately decommissioned gas infrastructure than with natural geological seepage.
It was observed that it was not only the air that was affected by the gas leakage; aquatic life, mangroves and other marine resources are also in danger.
A CEHRD team told this publication that weak fish were spotted floating on the river, showing that aquatic life may not be safe as a result of the persistent gas leakage into the water bodies. A fisherman disclosed that their catches have drastically reduced, which may imply a drastic decline in fish population.
He further stated that even the integrity of the fish they managed to catch was doubtful, adding that a few hours after catching the fish, they started to decay.
There were also reports of widespread damage to mangroves and aquatic ecosystems that support local livelihoods.
Slow Response. Big Coverup
Given the seriousness of the gas leakage, its impacts on the community and ecosystems, as well as the dangers it posed to the community’s inhabitants, it was expected that government would act swiftly to arrest the situation by ending the leakage. But this expectation was like asking for too much.
Although the incident was reported to the authorities in September 2025, it took almost four months (December 2025), following sustained campaigns by CSOs and concerned stakeholders for the government, through its representatives, NOSDRA AND NUPRC, to take action on the complaints of gas leakage in Bille.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) visited the community for a JIV assignment in December, 2025. The JIV was expected to be an avenue for the authorities to determine the cause of the leakage and how to tackle the menace.
But beyond confirming the release of dangerous toxic gas into the waters, wells, boreholes, rivers, creeks, mangroves and other areas in the community, the visit failed to state the source of the problem or the solution. It made efforts to absolve oil facilities in the area of complicity.
Some of the facilities have been abandoned without proper decommissioning, and most of them were set up in the early 1960s; they may have been weakened by age and over-use, revealed Tammy Cookey, an environmental scientist and campaigner.
In April 2026, it was found out that NUPRC visited Bille community again to launch its investigation and directed oil companies operating in the area to find a solution to the problem, not minding that NOSDRA had earlier tried to exonerate oil companies from being the cause of the pollution.
In July, 2026, the Federal Government sent a delegation led by the Minister of Environment, to visit the community, during which relief materials delivered to the residents, with promises that the government was working on the matter.
In a post- visit statement, NUPRC confirmed that the first aquifer has been contaminated. It also stated that preliminary investigations had been completed and that an international firm had been engaged for final studies. Community sources also disclosed to this publication that Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara, sent a delegation to the community and donated N100 million to the community for relief materials.
“People and groups, including government representatives, have been coming here. They took samples. But they have not told us what the problem is, or the results of the samples, said the youth leader of the community, Miebaka.
Another community member, Madam Elfreda said, “We are in trouble. See my body; see some children; there are rashes all over their bodies. We need urgent government intervention. We do not have water again. I thank the government for bringing some palliative. But that is not the solution to the problem. We need urgent intervention. Relief items can only last for a few days.
Some multinational companies have also come with relief items. “While we appreciate relief materials, we wonder the kind of materials that will sustain the whole community and for how long. We are calling on the government to come and find a permanent solution to the problem”
In July 2026, the House of Representatives expressed concerns over the failure of the regulatory agencies to take decisive steps to stop the gas leakage. The lawmakers, exercising their oversight function, subsequently questioned the two agencies, NOSDRA AND NUPRC, over the prolonged Bille gas seepage.
They raised concerns about the length of time the investigation had taken and what they regarded as gaps in the regulatory response. The agencies then rushed to the National Assembly to explain themselves. After then, the leakages have become more intense and frightening.
On 3 September 2026, an explosion tore through the room of one Joy Amos at 18 Opu Ibiila community in Bille. The explosion shattered windows and caused havoc in the room. The explosion was accompanied by a huge flame that engulfed the resident, said to be resting on her bed at the time. She suffered severe burns all over her body.
She managed to escape from the burning house and was rushed to a private clinic in Bille, where she was admitted for intensive care. After about 9 days of her admission at the Bille Private Clinic, Joy was moved to Port Harcourt on September 12 for better treatment. She later died in the Port Harcourt health facility on September 22.
A report by Amnesty International stated that the room occupied by Joy Amos, like many other rooms in the community, had exhibited a gas-bubbling sound beneath the cemented floors accompanied by a noticeable gas-like odour long before the incident, a hazard that persisted even after the explosion,”
Sadly, many homes and residents are prone to suffering the fate of Joy if urgent steps are not taken to end the gas leakage. The community has become a keg of gunpowder waiting to explode.
This raises questions as to why go9vernment has not declared a state of emergency on the Bille crisis?
Not Business As Usual
An environmental justice crusader who said that he has been monitoring the ugly event in Bille, Meshack Uyi, revealed to this publication that he is not surprised that the government is not handling the Bille problem with the seriousness it deserves.
He lamented that Nigeria seems to have established a pattern of treating Niger Delta pollution incidents. He noted that the pattern has always been that when an environmental pollution incident occurs, communities and CSOs would complain, government agencies would visit the site, committees would be formed, statements issued, relief items shared, promises made, and the source of the pollution either shifted to the affected community or concealed. After some weeks or months, the noise would fade away, and public attention would move elsewhere while the affected communities live with the burden of the incident.
He said it is dangerous to treat the Bille crisis in this pattern of business as usual, adding that the bubbling gas is not the type that can be wished away without deliberate actions.
The Big Question
The fundamental question emanating from this Bille crisis is: What does Nigeria’s response to Bille say about its commitment to protecting the environment in general and the marine ecosystems, which Nigeria has signed up to conserve under the Vision 20x30x30 marine ecosystems conservation agenda?
The Vision 20x30x30 agenda is a global framework under which countries are mandated to ensure that by 2030, at least 30% of MARINE ECOSYSTEMS are effectively conserved and managed. The United Nations identifies the reduction of marine pollution, protection of marine and coastal ecosystems, restoration of degraded ecosystems, and sustainable management of marine resources as central components of SDG 14, under which the 30 x 30 vision is rooted.
Nigeria has made commitments to conserve marine and coastal ecosystems, restore degraded ecosystems, ensure effective environmental management, and restore degraded ecosystems in line with the Vision 30×30 Agenda. Achieving the objectives entails protecting the ecosystems from being disorganized by pollution and swift responses to environmental challenges when they occur.
Nigeria is always swift in signing on to global commitments, conventions and agendas. The challenge is always in implementation. The Bille environmental crisis has no doubt exposed a huge gap between making promises and commitments to conserve marine ecosystems and the environmental realities.
A world-renowned Environmentalist and winner of the 2026 Courageous Scientists Award for Environmental and Climate Justice, Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, in a chat with this publication, noted that Nigeria is not serious about protecting the environment and conserving marine ecosystems, regardless of any commitment they have signed.
He considers such commitments as lip service devoid of actions. According to him, Nigeria cannot be on track to realize the Vision 30 x 30 agenda on marine ecosystems conservation given the way they handle serious environmental problems that negatively impact marine ecosystems. The gas leakage at Bille and the two-year-old fire at Okrika, plus the six-and-a-half-year inferno at Ororo-1 oil well off the coast of Awoye in Ondo State, all add up to show that our marine ecosystem is a sacrificial zone. Life underwater cannot be protected when the water is on fire.
Nnimmo, the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, stated that the fact that the scandalous happening in Bille has only attracted a whimper from the government indicates that any talk of environmental protection in Nigeria is mere lip service.
The horrendous fossil gas pollution at Bille ought to have attracted a declaration of a state of environmental emergency in the area. That no serious action has been taken and the people and the environment are exposed to extreme harm and risk of further harm is an indication that both the people and the environment are treated as disposable and inconsequential.
He urged the government to listen to the voices of citizens and CSOs and declare a state of environmental emergency in Bille and to ensure full participation of citizens in its interventions. Laws without implementation are the same as being lawless.
“Laws that are made without the participation of impacted communities cannot be effective because of their top- down colonial method. Government must listen to the people, respect the knowledge held by communities, and understand that the best conservation approaches are practiced by communities that live in and depend on their environment.”
On his part, Dr Tammy Cookey lamented that the government may not genuinely believe that, by the year 2030, it would achieve the Agenda of conserving 30 percent of marine ecosystems within the Nigerian area. He noted that the government’s response to Bille shows how unserious the government is with respect to the protection of the environment.
He also called on the government to take decisive actions to relocate the people in Bille to a safe space, stop the gas leakage and begin to clean up the polluted environment.
The Bille incident is not an isolated case. Oil spills and gas flaring from the activities of oil and gas companies in the Niger Delta have devastated flora and fauna across major oil-rich communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Remediation of the polluted areas have remained very slow and non-existent in most cases. This is not how to achieve the Marine Ecosystems conservation objectives.
Efforts to speak directly with NUPRC and NOSDRA were unsuccessful. Questions sent to them were neither acknowledged nor responded to.
…This story was produced with funding from The Colonist Report Africa as part of the 2030 Marine Conservation Target reporting initiative, supported by the Earth Journalism Network.
