A non-governmental organization, the International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta, has described as highly traumatizing the impact of oil pollution on the environment and health of the people of Bayelsa State.

The NGO, which is currently carrying out a sensitisation campaign on health hazards associated with oil pollution in the state, disclosed this on Thursday, during a courtesy visit to Governor Douye Diri, in Government House, Yenagoa.

Speaking through its team lead, Professor Engobo Emeseh, the group expressed concern that average life expectancy in Bayelsa has reduced significantly as the "people are forced to live on contaminated land, air and water."

Emeseh, who is of the Law Faculty of Aberyswhyth University, UK, clarified that the IWG was focusing advocacy on the health of the people in line with the recommendations of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission Report, which was submitted in 2023.

She disclosed that laboratory analysis of blood samples taken from indigenes from across the eight LGAs in Bayelsa indicated very high levels of hydrocarbon pollution and carcinogenic metals, causing a sharp increase in mortality and morbid rates in the state.

Emeseh, who commended the Bayelsa State Government for being the first subnational government in Nigeria to set up a high-powered Commission on oil and environment, said the IWG would continue to partner the state and other relevant organizations to mitigate the negative impact of oil pollution on the health of the people.

She said: "Most of us here were constituted as members of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission. We gave our report in 2023; first presented at the House of Lords, and also presented to the Bayelsa State Government here in Creek Haven in October 2024, and then presented to the wider public in Abuja.

"In all of this, the Bayelsa State Government had given us the space and the support to provide our expertise and advice on how to deal with the challenge of the scourge of oil pollution in our state.

"When we presented our report based on the evidence that we gathered, having gone to all the LGAs in Bayelsa State, and spoken to indigenes and key stakeholders in Bayelsa.

"My colleagues and I, who were members of the expert working group, were quite traumatized at what we found in Bayelsa State, (I think that is the right word), and we called our report an environmental genocide.

"Based on that, we committed that even though our commission was de- commissioned in November 2024, that we were going to carry on with this work."

In his response, Governor Douye Diri, represented by his deputy, Dr Peter Akpe, described the report of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission as one of the most important documents to guide concerted actions in the mitigation of environmental hazards from oil pollution in the state.

Governor Diri thanked members of the International Working Group for partnering the State Government by making their expertise available to ongoing efforts towards mitigating the impact of oil pollution on the health of Bayelsans.

While calling on the Federal Government and international organizations to treat the issue of oil pollution in Bayelsa as a special case, he assured the IWG of his administration's support towards environmental remediation and improved healthcare delivery in the state.

His words: "Your visit is very significant. It is to buttress and consolidate the partnership that began with the Bayelsa Oil and Environment Commission. We are happy that the relationship is matured to this kind of sustained international platform of advocacy.

"We recall the presentation His Excellency, the Governor made in New York. We travelled from Bayelsa to New York because of the importance we attached to the Commission and all your activities.

"The Commission's report remains one of our important documents, especially concerning the environmental condition of our state and the wider Niger Delta. For us, it is not a closed chapter, it is a living document whose recommendations must continue to guide concrete actions.

"We can't thank you enough for what you are doing already. We welcome your planned health research, interactions and engagements in the state. And we assure you that we are totally in support and we equally expect to see positive results from your work."

Members of the six-man IWG delegation include Dr. Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, representing ODI Global UK; Prof. Michael Watts of University of California; and Dr. Isaac Osuoka of York University, Canada.

Others are Prof. Anna Zalik, also from the York University, Canada, and Dr. Cautlin Strong of the ODI Global, United Kingdom.

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