One of the most polluted places on earth
Port Harcourt in Southern Nigeria is one of the most polluted places on earth and the center of the largest oil spill on earth. Nigeria's oil industry has been a major source of environmental damage. Shell is to pay 15.9 million USD to Nigerian farmers over oil damage where oil pollution continues to damage the health and livelihoods of many in the area. Nigeria’s crude oil and natural gas exports earned $55 billion in 2018. Land soaked in oil, oil companies are accused of negligence in the Niger Delta that has deep oil and gas reserves. Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa, there are hundreds of oil fields in the Niger Delta, one of the largest in the world. After suffering the effects of major pollution for decades, people have turned to the courts for justice. Since 2008, the Netherlands branch of Milieudefensie also known as Friends of the Earth along with four Nigerian farmers have been fighting the oil spill case against Shell. In 2021 a Dutch court in the Hague rul