By Obiabin Onukwugha
The fight against artisanal refining and pipeline vandalism is beginning to yield positive impacts for communities in the Niger Delta region, following the rebound of some fish species in the marine ecosystem of Rivers State.
Illegal bunkering and pipeline vandalism peaked during the fight for resource control by Niger Delta youths, which culminated in the militancy era of the 2000s.
During that period, the Nigerian government lost oil revenue estimated at between $50 billion and $100 billion. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation reported losing over ₦1.5 trillion ($4.8 billion) in 2016 as production dropped from 2.2 million barrels per day to nearly 1 million barrels per day.
Also, in 2009, the then Minister of State for Petroleum, Edmund Daukoru, stated that Nigeria lost about $1 billion since February of that year when militants in the Niger Delta launched attacks on oil facilities and workers.
In order to arrest the situation, the Federal Government of Nigeria under the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua granted amnesty to Niger Delta militants on June 25, 2009.
However, in the last decade, the federal government has been battling illegal refining of petroleum products and pipeline vandalism across communities in the region. Through a security agency joint task force and initiatives such as the award of a multi-billion-naira pipeline security contract to Tantita Security Services Limited, the federal government has deactivated oil refining sites across creeks and communities in the region, with arrests made in some cases.
While the federal government reported revenue losses, the communities where artisanal refining took place and the ecosystem were also impacted, resulting in the loss of some marine species.
One such species is the mullet fish commonly called “Sungu” among fishing communities in the Niger Delta. However, the last two years have seen the rebound of this species.
“When I was a little child, my father used to fish ‘Sungu’. As I grew up and got married to my husband, we also used to fish and we used to catch ‘Sungu’ in large quantities,” a septuagenarian who gave her name as Mrs. Ngowari Theophilus told a NatureNews reporter during an interview in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Mrs. Theophilus, who spoke in pidgin English, lamented that oil activities have greatly reduced fish populations. “Before now you could fill your fishing boat when the tide is friendly. But the situation is no longer the same.”
“Sungu”, a small mullet species, can be fried and eaten as a snack, or used to prepare pepper soup, soup, and stew. It mostly comes in handy for low- and middle-income earning families, especially as families grapple with the harsh economic situation in the country. Its large population makes the fish cheap in the market, thereby making it affordable for poor families. Rich families that love the flavour also eat it as a delicacy.
In Port Harcourt and other local fishing communities across the state, “Sungu” sells for N500 per portion, compared to other smaller fish species that are sold for between N1,000 and N5,000 per portion.
“Before now we, fisherfolk, used to sell a bowl of ‘Sungu’ for N500, but it is no longer that way,” Mrs. Theophilus said.
“There was a period that you could hardly catch ‘Sungu’, but we have noticed that it is beginning to come back since the federal government stopped our boys from this bunkering,” she continued.
A fish seller at the popular Creek Road Market, Ms. Leebari, corroborated this finding. She stated that she has sold fresh fish since she was a young woman.
“I have been selling fish for a very long time. I sell tilapia, prawns, mullet and other fishes. We buy direct from the fishermen and retail to customers,” Leebari stated.
She observed that the “Sungu” population has begun to rebound compared to the peak of oil bunkering three to four years ago. “Yes, I can say that we are beginning to see more ‘Sungu’. We usually buy the fish in bulk from the fishermen but we sort them according to their species before we sell.
“There was a time that in a whole basin of fish you would not see ‘Sungu’ that you could sell up to N2,000. That made us increase the price. We started selling it for N1,000 per portion just as we sell tilapia. But now there is improvement so we are selling it at N500 again. Though the quantity is not much. You know the price of things in the market has increased too,” she stated.
Recently, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, reported that signs of ecological recovery are emerging in Ogoni’s oil-degraded wetlands, as fish species previously absent from polluted creeks return following ongoing mangrove restoration and shoreline cleanup.
HYPREP, in a statement to mark the 2026 World Wetlands Day in February, disclosed that findings from its Post-Fish Stock Assessment in Bomu Creek, one of the project’s active restoration zones, confirm the return of fish to Ogoni creeks.
“Reports from the Post-Fish Stock Assessment in Bomu Creek are showing promising signs of biodiversity recovery and increased fisheries production, with fish species not seen before the restoration returning,” the HYPREP Project Coordinator, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, said.
He noted that the resurgence of fish stocks is already translating into improved livelihoods, as local fisherfolk are now returning from the creeks with appreciable catches. “This is cheering news as local fisherfolk can now return with appreciable catches, which signals the rejuvenation of the livelihood of the people,” he stated.
