Crude Oil Prospecting and Security Challenges in The Niger Delta: A Case Study of Rivers State

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

This paper examined the effect of crude oil prospecting on the increasing security challenges in the Niger Delta with specific emphasis on Rivers State. It was stated that the discovery of crude oil in the Niger Delta especially Rivers State has not brought to the region the anticipated socio-economic development but rather, decades of crude oil prospecting, oil exploitation, exploration, and production activities in Rivers State have led to severe environmental degradation that has created complex problems (including insecurity) in the State. While adopting the relative deprivation theory, the study argued that the relative deprivation of the inhabitants of Rivers State of a secure and safe environment that is not polluted through crude oil prospecting has invariably increased agitations by various competing groups with varying interests thereby leading to an increase in the spate of insecurity in not just the Niger Delta region particularly the State. While also applying the qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, the study discovered that there is a link between crude oil prospecting and insecurity in Rivers State. It was, therefore, recommended that MNOCs operating in the region should attach priority to payment of compensation for damages that results from operations without delay by cleaning up the damaged environments and compensating those affected.