Uche Cecil Izuora
Amnesty International (AI) has raised fresh concerns about Bille residents’ health emergency which it said has continued despite several warning.
The residents of the town of Bille, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, are continuing to face a serious health emergency, it said.
Since October 2025, methane gas has been bubbling up in nearby rivers and swamps and is now affecting a significant amount of the town’s drinking wells.
Bille’s school children have been forced to move to another community for safety.
The Amnesty International recalled that on 7 April, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) visited Bille to launch an investigation into the leaks and has ordered oil companies operating nearby to find a solution.
While this is a positive development, little has been done to identify and stop the leaks. Amnesty International continues to call for the investigation to be expedited, for the findings to be made public, and for action to be taken to stop the gas leaks.
Amnesty International has therefore requested the Federal Government to urgently investigate a series of gas leaks reported in the Bille community in Rivers State, warning that the situation poses a serious threat to the lives and health of residents.
The human rights organisation said the suspected methane leaks had been contaminating drinking water sources and affecting the well-being of people in the coastal community in the oil-producing Niger Delta.
According to the group, fishermen in Bille first noticed unusual bubbling in October 2025 while working in a mangrove swamp and nearby river several kilometres from the town. The bubbling water was accompanied by a strong sulphurous smell.
Within a few days, similar incidents were reported at several other locations, including inside the community.
Some residents reportedly discovered that the air around the bubbling sites could be ignited, suggesting the presence of flammable gas.
Recently, Amnesty International Nigeria’s Country Director, Isa Sanusi, described the situation as deeply concerning and warned that the problem could worsen if authorities fail to act quickly.
“The alarming number of reports of gas leaks across the Bille community is harrowing, and the affected area appears to be expanding,” Sanusi said.
He added that the leaks had already begun to affect residents’ access to clean water and also disrupted activities in the community.
“The leaks are already contaminating the town’s drinking water, while some children at a local school have had to relocate after falling ill and experiencing vomiting,” he said.
Sanusi stressed that the Nigerian government has both a legal and moral obligation to safeguard residents from environmental harm and potential human rights violations.
“The government must immediately identify the source of the leak and stop it, or take other measures to secure the community from a potentially catastrophic incident,” he said.
The suspected leak sites are located close to several oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta, including pipelines and oil wells previously operated by Shell before the company divested from onshore operations in Nigeria in 2025.
However, the precise source of the methane leak remains unknown as investigations into the incident have yet to be concluded.