Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Fresh concerns have emerged over the role of government regulators in the escalating conflict between Afor Clan communities in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State and Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Co. Ltd. over the company’s controversial pipeline project.
Despite petitions, protests, and ongoing legal proceedings, the company has continued laying its pipeline through residential areas and near a health centre, without presenting a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA.
Communities and rights groups are now accusing key regulators of failing to enforce the law.
Civil society groups point fingers at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC; the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA; and the Federal Ministry of Environment for their silence, describing it as “tacit approval of illegality.”
Dr. Otive Igbuzor, a human rights advocate, said the issue has gone beyond Sterling Oil’s actions to the credibility of Nigeria’s regulatory framework.
“This situation represents a critical test of Nigeria’s environmental governance. How can a company proceed without an EIA, without consultation, and in the middle of pending legal action? The regulators must answer for their silence,” he told SweetCrude Reports.
The pipeline, which cuts through five Afor Clan communities — Okolori-Afor, Ogbetitit-Afor, Umuachi-Afor, Ogbedigbo-Afor, and Obetim-Uno — is routed less than 100 metres from the only health centre in the area, sparking fears of explosions, contamination, and biodiversity loss.
Community leader Mr. Cletus Ifeadime, President of Afor United, accused regulators of siding with Sterling Oil by omission.
“Sterling Oil is not bigger than the Nigerian state. But when regulators refuse to act, it gives the company the confidence to trample on our rights. We are asking NUPRC, NOSDRA, and the Ministry of Environment: why are you silent?” he said.
Similarly, Amb. Chukwuyenum Kind Uzor, Secretary of Afor United, alleged that regulators have abandoned their statutory duties.
“They know this project violates Sections 43 and 44 of the Constitution, yet they look away. This is not just Sterling Oil’s problem — it is now a regulatory scandal,” he said.
Environmental campaigner, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, said the government’s passivity emboldens operators to cut corners.
“We keep seeing regulators acting as if their job is to protect companies instead of citizens. Sterling Oil should have been stopped immediately. Instead, work is going on as if laws don’t exist,” he said.
A petition filed by Hon. Nnamdi Eziechi, representing Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency, is still pending before the National Assembly. Meanwhile, community groups insist that regulators must urgently intervene to halt construction and enforce compliance with Nigerian laws.
The Afor communities are demanding an immediate cessation of work, a rerouting of the pipeline to Owoi Creek as originally proposed, and a full-scale environmental audit under independent supervision.
