New evidence reveals disturbing details of tragedy under UN's watch: 'Auditors were physically blocked'

The United Nations pulled out of an oil spill cleanup operation in Nigeria because of alleged government corruption.

What's happening?

New reporting by The Associated Press in late December revealed deep problems with oil spill cleanup operations in Nigeria and that the U.N. Environment Programme "broke ties" in 2023 with the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project because it deemed the government agency a "total failure."

The U.N. became an adviser to the $1 billion project after surveying spills in the Niger Delta, and the Nigerian government oversaw the agency. For years, the U.N. warned that HYPREP, under head of operations Philip Shekwolo, was not facilitating the work it was charged with overseeing and claimed to be completing.

"The majority of cleanup companies are owned by politicians," according to the AP, and although the first cleanup sites were the easiest to remedy, none of the 41 businesses involved were "competent enough to handle more polluted sites," the U.N. found in 2022.

"[HYPREP] selected cleanup contractors who had no relevant experience, according to a U.N. review," the AP reported. "It sent soil samples to laboratories that didn't have the equipment for tests they claimed to perform. Auditors were physically blocked from making sure work had been completed."

Why is this important?

There have been thousands of crude oil spills in the Niger Delta's tidal mangroves and farmlands since the 1950s, per the AP. People are suffering, and families' livelihoods have been ruined.

Watch now: How bad is a gas stove for your home's indoor air quality?

The latest spill occurred when a pipe burst at a Shell facility on Dec. 14, further underscoring one of the many reasons why clean, renewable energy is better and more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels.

Shekwolo, who previously worked for Shell as head of oil spill remediation, was fired in 2022 by Minister of State for Environment Sharon Ikeazor for being "too close to the politicians," the AP reported. She had his replacement review contracts and investigate the cleanup companies. Two months later, Ikeazor was ousted and Shekwolo was back in his position. (Shell reportedly contributed $300 million to HYPREP.)

"We are drinking, breathing, and eating hydrocarbon pollution," environmentalist Alagoa Morris told the AP, saying that the life expectancy in the Niger Delta is 41 to 42 but 52 to 53 in other regions.

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What's being done about the cleanup?

The U.N. started its work in 2008 and in 2011 said the cleanup could take 25 years. One of the polluted sites was in Port Harcourt, but U.N. scientists last year discovered that the subsoil had seven times more petroleum than Nigerian health limits, the AP reported. The contractor's permit was revoked.

The Nigerian government has work to do, as major companies and illegal refining operations continue to cause spills. Communities are raising the alarm, but they may need more climate action activists like Ebaide Quincee Omiunu.