Environmental Insecurity and Poverty in the Niger Delta: A Case of Ilaje

abstract:Oil-related activities have led to environmental degradation that has not only engendered the decline of traditional economic activities in oil-bearing areas, but also led to a violent communal crisis, youth militancy, and the government and oil companies’ brutal repression of protests and violent demonstration by the people of the Niger Delta. This study examines the interrelationship between environmental insecurity and poverty in the oil-bearing areas of the Niger Delta region with a special focus on Ilaje in Ondo. Data were derived through interviews with key informants, focus group discussions (FGD), and extant literature. Overall, environmental dislocation has not only engendered poverty in oil-bearing communities, it has also fueled conflict and violent attacks on oil facilities by the aggrieved local people, leading to a vicious cycle of environmental insecurity, the erosion of livelihoods, and poverty in the Niger Delta region.