Bayelsa Tops Nigeria's Pollution List: Experts Alarmed by Oil Extraction Devastation

Nnimmo Bassey, Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), has described Bayelsa as Nigeria's most polluted state due to hydrocarbon extraction.

Bassey made this assertion during a capacity-sharing session with Nembe residents, where he cited the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission report from May 2023.

The report recorded a per capita oil pollution burden of 1.5 barrels of crude oil in the state, which Bassey believes could rank among the most polluted places globally.

Bassey also referenced the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) environmental assessment of Ogoniland, conducted between 2009 and 2011, which exposed poor handling of oil pollution and clean-up exercises in the Niger Delta.