For six years, the Ororo-1 oil well off Nigeria's Atlantic coast has burned continuously, releasing smoke, soot, and toxic fumes into nearby communities like Awoye in the Niger Delta. Residents report persistent coughs, respiratory difficulties, skin problems, and collapsing fishing livelihoods, with pleas for help going unanswered by authorities.
Health Crisis in Awoye
Bodunwa Orugbemi, 70, says her 21-year-old son Ijadopin started coughing one evening in May 2025 inside their wooden home. Within days, his cough intensified, followed by skin irritation and difficulty breathing. "He started shivering and coughing uncontrollably. Now he can eat, but he still cannot speak," she says from a hospital cot where her son lies. She believes the sickness is linked to pollution from the Ororo-1 well, which exploded in April 2020.
Her husband, a fisher, no longer returns with sufficient catches. "The sea is different. He sometimes stays out all day and barely brings anything," she adds.
Systemic Pollution Across the Niger Delta
Philip Jakpor, executive director of the NGO Renevlyn Development Initiative, says the situation in Awoye reflects a familiar pattern. "In the Niger Delta, the plight of oil-polluted communities has reached a point where people are forced to live with contaminated air and water. They continuously inhale toxic substances without knowing the damage this may be causing to their bodies." He notes there is no comprehensive study on oil pollution's long-term health effects in the region.
The Ororo-1 well was originally drilled by Chevron Corporation, which capped and abandoned the field. Nigeria's then petroleum regulator awarded licences to Owena Oil and Gas and Guarantee Petroleum, which operated until the blowout ignited the well.
Daily Life Amid Pollution
Temilorun Patrick Ajimisogbe, a fisher in Awoye, recalls the explosion: "It was around 7pm when the explosion happened. The whole community shook. At first, we thought it was thunder rolling in from the ocean, but when we rushed out of our houses, we saw thick smoke rising from the offshore drilling facility. Since that day, nothing has been the same."
Years later, residents still complain of coughs, skin irritation, and dizziness. Black soot settles inside water containers and uncovered food, yet no government agency has conducted a comprehensive public health assessment. Ajimisogbe says, "Sometimes, we wake up in the morning and just see oil spread everywhere. Before we know it, the water will carry it away again."
Expert Warnings on Toxic Exposure
Dr. Bieye Briggs, an environmental health expert, emphasises the lack of bio-monitoring. "What is truly worrying is the lack of an adequate bio-monitoring regime to determine what people may be ingesting into their bodies." A study by the Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre in Otuabagi, Bayelsa state, found high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in women's blood and contamination of soil and water.
Dr. Nnimmo Bassey of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation warns that continuous burning of crude oil releases benzene, sulphur dioxide, particulate matter, and PAHs, linked to cancer and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. "If you consider what the people in Awoye have been continuously exposed to for six years, it may be comparable to what communities face where there is constant gas flaring and oil spills. You can be sure there will be elevated levels of blood disorders, cancers, skin diseases, breathing difficulties and, of course, deepening poverty."
Collapsing Fishing Livelihoods
Fishing, the main livelihood in Awoye, has collapsed. Fishers once caught croaker, catfish, tilapia, mackerel, and barracuda. Now, Ajimisogbe says, "When you cast your net, sometimes the fish smell of crude oil. Unless you buy fuel worth 60,000 to 70,000 naira [£33 to £39], twice as much as before, and travel much farther out to sea, you'd hardly get a decent catch."
Oil contamination forms slick layers on the water, blocking oxygen exchange and destroying marine breeding grounds. Dead fish sometimes wash up near polluted creeks after heavy discharge. Christianah Abiye, a fishmonger, says dwindling catches mean lower incomes and rising debts. "At first we thought the fire would stop. Now it feels like we have been abandoned with it."
Community Leaders Express Frustration
Traditional leader Happiness Abiye expresses growing frustration. "Our people are dying slowly, with increased sickness and hunger linked to this pollution. Fishermen no longer catch like before, children are coughing, and women spend their little money treating illnesses that were rare before this fire. We feel abandoned. It is as if the lives of coastal people do not matter to those in power."
Environmental campaigners say the disaster reveals systemic failures in Nigeria's environmental governance. Bassey states, "The Niger Delta environment has become a completely sacrificed zone. We talk a lot about oil spills and gas flaring, but we hardly talk about produced water. Communities are carrying the health burden, while regulators remain largely absent."
Experts call for a monitoring system for environmental and health risks. No one from Owena Oil and Gas or the Ondo State government responded to requests for comment.
