Oluwafunbi Bello 
BAYELSA, Nigeria – Oil-bearing communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta receive scientific training to document environmental pollution and strengthen legal cases against oil operators.
The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) concludes a capacity-building workshop in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, training participants from five oil-producing states on environmental monitoring techniques.
HOMEF’s Fossil Politics Lead, Stanley Egholo, in a statement on Friday said communities often lose court cases due to lack of credible data despite widespread pollution. “Environmental monitoring is no longer optional,” Egholo says. “Communities must gather empirical evidence during pollution incidents.”
Participants from Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Cross River learn how to monitor air, water and land using accessible digital tools.
Resource person Onyekachi Okoro explains that smartphones can generate court-admissible evidence through geotagged photographs and videos. “Digital evidence is universally acceptable for litigation and advocacy,” Okoro says.
Environmental activist, Chief Alagoa Morris warns against exaggeration, stressing that factual accuracy is essential to credible environmental justice campaigns.
About the Author
Mirian Gom 
Otamere Gladness 
Edino Chubiyo Cornelius 
Oluwatobi Adu