Abandonment must not be the final stage of extraction
Ikono, Ibiono communities demand justice against extractive harm
For seven decades, communities in Ikono and Ibiono Ibom Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State have lived with the legacy of oil wells drilled and abandoned by Shell in the 1950s, after they were deemed commercially unviable. While the commercial value of these oil wells may be gone, the environmental and social burdens have persisted. Community members report declining crop yields, dying economic trees, polluted streams, disappearing fish and snails, damaged property, insecurity, and loss of livelihoods. These experiences expose the enduring consequences of an extractive system that takes value from nature while leaving communities to bear the costs.
These concerns brought traditional rulers, women, men and youths from affected communities together at Ikot Enua on 9 September 2026 for a capacity-sharing dialogue organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) under its Fossil Politics project. The dialogue provided a space for community members to document their experiences, strengthen their understanding of environmental rights and consider pathways to accountability. For HOMEF, the abandoned wells are not simply obsolete infrastructure. They are part of a wider extractive legacy in which community territories are treated as sites of resource extraction and environmental damage is left with the people. Abandonment must not be the final stage of extraction. Responsibility to restore the land must continue after commercial interest in the resource has ended.
The wider Niger Delta experience was brought into the discussion by HOMEF Executive Director, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, who referenced continuing gas bubbling and fire incidents in Bille, Rivers State, as examples of the dangers communities face around petroleum infrastructure.
Bassey stressed that affected communities must have a meaningful role in decisions concerning abandoned wells and their territories.
“Communities must speak for themselves. They live here and understand the issues better than outsiders.”
Mr Umo Isua Ikoh, Executive Director of Peace Point Development Foundation, similarly described the unequal distribution of oil’s benefits and burdens, saying, “Oil can be a blessing to Abuja but never to the host communities.” He cited Ikot Ebidang community in Onna LGA, where an ongoing flare has reportedly displaced members of the host community.
Chief Kingsley Ekpo of Ikot Idaha, however, expressed hope that the oil beneath their land could eventually benefit the community.
Such expectations are understandable after decades of presenting oil as a pathway to development. But across the Niger Delta, communities associated with petroleum extraction continue to contend with pollution, livelihood losses, inadequate infrastructure and struggles for justice.
HOMEF therefore rejects the idea that the answer lies in reviving extraction from the wells. The priority should be to decommission hazardous infrastructure, clean up pollution, restore ecosystems, address livelihood losses and strengthen communities to pursue futures beyond extractivism.
For HOMEF, communities should not remain trapped in the belief that more extraction will eventually deliver the development that previous extraction failed to provide. The answer to the damage caused by extractivism cannot be more extractivism.
Community testimonies
In Ikot Enua, Chief Felix Vincent Udoh reported dying oil palm seedlings, declining agricultural productivity and the disappearance of cocoyam, snails and fish species. He also raised concerns about insecurity around the abandoned infrastructure and reported declining soil fertility and rapid rusting of roofing sheets.
Chief Udoh further reported that corrugated roofing sheets in Ikot Enua now rust and become damaged much faster than previously, with some reportedly lasting less than five years. He added that Ikot Enua won its case against Shell at the High Court and Court of Appeal in 2013, but noted that the company was yet to comply with the judgment.
From Adara Abom community, Mr Moses Udo said oil pollution has affected fishing activities, reducing an important source of food and income.
From Uyo Afaha Nkan, Barrister Trust Udoh said oil spills had contaminated water sources and affected farming. “We can’t plant in our farms anymore,” he said, calling for the removal of the oil installation.
Members of Ikot Idaha community reported the destruction of economic trees and poor yields of food crops, while Edem Udua and Ediene Atai communities reported similar losses of economic trees.
Members of Ntan Mbat said food crops such as okra and cocoyams no longer yield properly and sometimes die prematurely. They also raised concerns about an abandoned road project reportedly initiated by the Niger Delta Development Commission.
In Nkara Obio, community members reported polluted streams and declining crop yields.
Across the communities, testimonies revealed a common pattern: poor yields of yam, cassava, cocoyam, okra and other crops; destruction of economic trees; disappearance of fish, snails and other species; polluted streams; insecurity; and concerns about health and inadequate public infrastructure.
These impacts erode the ecological foundations of community life. When farmland stops producing, and streams can no longer support aquatic life, communities lose food, income and autonomy. Environmental protection is therefore inseparable from justice. Land is not merely an oilfield. Rivers are not waste channels. Communities are not sacrifice zones.
The abandoned oil infrastructure in the Ikono and Ibiono Ibom communities represents the long-term consequences of an extractive system that leaves communities bearing environmental and social costs after commercial interests have ended.
The wells must be properly decommissioned and removed where extraction has ceased. Polluted lands and water bodies must be restored, livelihoods addressed and health concerns investigated.
Restoration must go beyond technical closure. It must prioritise ecological recovery and community wellbeing and must not become a pathway to renewed extraction. The goal should be to make the territories safe, healthy and ecologically productive for the people who live there.
Demands
The affected communities are demanding compensation for pollution-related losses; clear decisions on abandoned wells, including permanent decommissioning where operations have ceased; cleanup of polluted lands and water sources; improved security; employment opportunities; and skills development that creates sustainable livelihoods beyond extractive industries.
HOMEF called on the Federal Government, Shell, regulatory agencies and the Akwa Ibom State Government to address outstanding claims concerning the abandoned Ikono 1 oil well, including environmental remediation, compensation and restoration, following the 2013 Court of Appeal decision in Eteidung Raymond F. Obot & Ors. v. Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited (CA/C/70/2011), which allowed the environmental claims from 2006 onward to proceed.
The organisation also called for proper assessment, decommissioning and removal of abandoned wells and hazardous infrastructure; comprehensive cleanup and ecological restoration; investigation of reported health concerns and long-term environmental monitoring; meaningful participation of affected communities; compensation for lost farmland, crops, economic trees, fishing grounds, property and livelihoods; and support for non-extractive livelihoods such as sustainable farming, fishing and ecological restoration.
The future must be beyond extractivism
The abandoned wells in Ikono and Ibiono Ibom were drilled seven decades ago and abandoned after being deemed commercially unviable. Yet communities continue to report environmental degradation, declining agricultural productivity, disappearing species, polluted water, insecurity and livelihood losses.
The lesson is that environmental consequences of extractivism do not end when oil production ends. For HOMEF, the response must therefore go beyond managing abandoned infrastructure. It must challenge a system that treats nature as a commodity and communities as expendable spaces for extraction.
The people of Ikono and Ibiono Ibom do not need another promise that oil will eventually bring development. They need their lands and waters restored, their rights respected and their communities empowered to pursue futures that do not depend on the destruction of their ecological foundations.
The wells may have been abandoned, but responsibility cannot be abandoned. The land must be restored, the people must be heard, and the cycle of extractive harm must end.
