The Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre has called for compensation and reparations for women living in polluted communities across the Niger Delta region.
The Executive Director, Dr Emem Okon, made the demand at a workshop in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, March 11, to mark the 2025 International Women’s Day celebration.
Okon said that the workshop served as a sacred space for women to share their stories and process the collective trauma of environmental and social injustices.
“Here, wounds inflicted by years of neglect, economic marginalisation, and environmental violence are met with empathy and solidarity,” she said.
She said that the centre and its allied women organisations were unhappy at the dangers faced by women following their exposure to environmental pollution.
She expressed concern that despite repeated appeals to oil firms to address the suffering of women in pollution-affected communities, no positive response had been recorded
The executive director said that both the government and International Oil Companies had failed to take the issues of pollution in the Niger Delta seriously.
Okon stated that women were severely affected by activities of oil companies because of the health risks they were exposed to.
“The effect of oil extraction is not measured solely in terms of environmental degradation, the deep personal and communal wounds borne by women should be considered too.
“For decades, oil spill, gas flaring, and encroaching pollution have destroyed the natural resources that Niger Delta women depend on for survival.
“The rivers, which was once a vital source of water for daily needs, now carry toxic remnants of crude oil, poisoning farmlands and devastating aquatic lives.
“It is clear that our survival backbone and local sources of livelihood have been destroyed,” she said.
Okon further said that the centre had organised feminist convergence and trauma healing sessions which brought women together to share their experiences.
The executive director urged both the government and oil companies to take quick steps towards ending the longstanding suffering of women affected by oil pollution.
“Women need access to health and trauma services, stricter environmental protections, accountability and reparations.
“Niger Delta women require inclusion in the decision-making processes, especially in relation to oil extraction and support for transitioning to alternative livelihoods that do not depend on oil extraction,” Okon said.
The event featured presentations, poetry recitals, dance, drama, and storytelling, among others.
By Desmond Ejibas