Crude Oil Theft and Environmental Degradation in Oil-Producing Communities of Rivers State, Nigeria: Evidence from Bodo And Rumuekpe

This study examines crude oil theft as a direct driver of environmental degradation in Bodo (Gokana LGA) and Rumuekpe (Emuoha LGA), two oil-producing communities in Rivers State, Nigeria, using a descriptive survey design anchored on Strain Theory, Resource Curse Theory, and Environmental Justice Theory. Two communities were purposively selected for their contrasting exposure profiles; within them, 200 respondents were drawn through stratified random sampling across six occupational categories. Structured questionnaires were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (chi-square). Respondents perceived poverty and unemployment as the leading facilitators of oil theft and associated the practice with widespread air, water, and soil pollution, which in turn undermined farming, fishing, and health. Government enforcement, corporate remediation, and compensation were perceived as slow, profit-driven, and inadequate, respectively. The findings support a theoretically grounded, mutually reinforcing relationship between environmental harm and continued oil theft, though the cross-sectional design cannot establish causal direction. The article recommends coordinated regulatory enforcement, logistics-chain surveillance, community-based environmental governance, and targeted youth economic empowerment.