“If you find refineries that are not working according to standard, you dismantle them. These things can be carted away in boats, they are not massive installations, they are drums and pipes and sticks for fire. It is very rudimentary, very easy to dismantle and taken away. That should be the major thrust of dismantling the bush refineries. Bombing or burning should never be an option,” Bassey said.

Experts agree that implementing recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland in August 2011 would go a long way in the restoration of the Niger Delta region and reduction of illegal oil activities. The report, which was commissioned by and delivered to the Federal Government of Nigeria, noted that halting further pollution and clean-up of all affected areas can only be achieved through multi-stakeholder action coordinated by the Federal Government. It therefore makes technical recommendations to the government, the oil and gas industry and communities to begin a comprehensive cleanup of the land with a view to restore polluted environments and put an end to all forms of ongoing oil contamination in the region, noted that the cleanup would require multi-stakeholder efforts coordinated by the Federal Government.

UNEP in its investigation discovered that crude oil theft, sabotage and illegal refining are the main sources of pollution in the Niger Delta today and accounted for 92 per cent of oil volume spilled. “Incidents of oil theft and wilful damage continue to take place along the Trans-Niger Pipeline in Ogoniland, with severe impacts on the environment,” UNEP reported, just as it called for a coordinated effort between government, oil and gas companies and communities to bring an end to theft and illegal refining and urges communities to take a proactive stand against individuals and groups engaged in these activities.

The report further highlighted significant environmental impacts from oil pollution in parts of the Niger Delta relating to a variety of historical causes and ongoing crude oil theft, artisanal refining and other criminal activity. It called on the Nigerian government, the oil and gas industry and communities to begin a comprehensive cleanup of the region and take coordinated action to end to all forms of ongoing oil contamination.

UNEP Recommendations:
The UNEP report presented a range of operational, technical, regulatory and behavioural recommendations addressed to the Federal Government of Nigeria, oil and gas operators and the communities. These recommendations are aimed at restoring the environment of polluted areas and addressing the causes of on-going contamination. The report also recommended eight emergency measures relating to water contamination in areas where there was assessed to be an immediate danger to public health.

The world environmental agency stressed that the majority of its recommendations can only be delivered through multi-stakeholder action coordinated by the Federal Government. Some of the most important recommendations on which the delivery of subsequent action depends, including the creation of an Environmental Restoration Authority and an Environmental Restoration Fund for the region, are directed at the Federal Government and require it to take the lead in coordinating the activities of the many stakeholders involved.

Finally, the UNEP report noted that ensuring long-term sustainability is a much bigger challenge – one that will require coordinated and collaborative action from all stakeholders.

It is believed that employing these expert suggestions by all stakeholders will go a long way in removing the menace of illegal bush refineries, halt the pollution created by illegal bunkering and the burning of illegal refineries, and also save the environment, the ecosystem and human lives endangered by such activities, as well as the billions of naira lost to illegality.

*This report was supported by Ford Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting