Environmental Legislations, Oil-Based Violence and Justice in the Nigeria's Niger-Delta Region

The exploration and exploitation of natural resources have left people and the environment devastated over the years. The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is not an exception to this development, the area is the main oil-producing region of Nigeria thus generating more than 80% of the national revenue. Successive administration has put in place different regulatory frameworks towards addressing the upsurge of violence in the region. However, various initiatives or frameworks at minimizing the occurrence of violence failed to assess the states obnoxious laws that disempowered and disinherited the land of the people. Therefore, the paper adopted qualitative approach to unpack the impact of these laws on oil violence in the region. Civil society, ethnic groups and host community's distresses about the obliteration of these regulations and the unwillingness of the government to comply to such demands have all deepened the activism for resource control, protests, brigandage and violence. Therefore, this paper will examine the state environmental regulations in relations to the dilemma of these oil host communities, the state response to the local people clamor for revision of these laws and its impact on the region's development. The paper suggested that without a revisit to these laws there would be recurrent violence in the region.