Nigerian Environmental Law Needs Stronger Liability Regime, Study Finds

A new legal study published in the Abuja Journal of Public Law (ABJPL) has called for a fundamental reconsideration of Nigeria’s approach to liability for environmental pollution arising from petroleum operations.

The article, titled “The Limits of Strict Liability for Environmental Pollution in Nigeria: Towards an Absolute Liability Framework,” was published in Volume 5, Issue 1 of the University of Abuja’s peer-reviewed public law journal. The study was authored by Dr Felix Chikwado Kamalu, Prof Olagunju G. A., and Adekunle Saheed Akinola. It examines whether the traditional doctrine of strict liability remains adequate for addressing the scale and character of environmental harm associated with hazardous petroleum activities in Nigeria.

The study starts from a longstanding problem in Nigerian environmental law: although affected communities may rely on the common-law rule in Rylands v Fletcher and related statutory provisions when seeking redress for pollution, strict liability does not necessarily guarantee effective compensation or restoration. The doctrine removes the need in appropriate cases to prove fault, but it retains recognised exceptions and defences which can limit the circumstances in which an operator is held responsible.

According to the authors, these limitations become particularly significant in environmental pollution cases involving extensive, persistent and difficult-to-attribute harm. Where contamination affects communities and ecosystems over a prolonged period, conventional liability rules may make it difficult for victims to obtain timely and effective remedies.

The research therefore examines the case for moving beyond strict liability towards an absolute liability framework for inherently hazardous petroleum activities. Its central argument is that operators engaged in activities presenting exceptional environmental risks should bear a stronger form of responsibility for the consequences of those activities, rather than allowing traditional exceptions and defences to undermine accountability.

The article adopts a doctrinal legal methodology, examining judicial decisions, legislation and relevant international legal instruments. It also draws comparative lessons from developments in international environmental law, particularly the principle of absolute liability articulated by the Indian Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta v Union of India.

A major finding of the study is that strict liability, although an important advance over fault-based liability, has significant limitations when applied to contemporary environmental pollution. The authors contend that these limitations can dilute accountability and restrict access to compensation, particularly where the environmental consequences of hazardous activities are widespread, long-term or difficult to establish through conventional legal concepts of liability.

The study consequently proposes a carefully structured absolute liability regime as a potentially more coherent basis for allocating responsibility for hazardous petroleum operations in Nigeria. Such a regime would not, however, operate in isolation. The authors emphasise that liability reform should be accompanied by effective institutional mechanisms for environmental remediation and compensation.

In practical terms, the research argues for a system capable of ensuring that victims do not merely obtain a declaration of legal responsibility but can secure timely redress, environmental restoration and meaningful compensation. The emphasis is therefore not only on determining who is legally responsible after pollution occurs, but also on creating incentives for operators to prevent environmental harm in the first place.

The significance of the study extends beyond the technical distinction between strict and absolute liability. At its core is a broader question of environmental accountability in Nigeria: whether the existing legal framework adequately distributes the risks and costs associated with hazardous petroleum activities.

The authors conclude that strengthening environmental protection in Nigeria requires more than additional regulatory provisions. It requires a reconsideration of the underlying principles upon which environmental liability is constructed.

For Akinola, the study represents part of a wider research interest in environmental law, environmental rights and legal accountability for environmental harm. The article contributes to the continuing Nigerian and international debate over how legal systems should respond when economic activities generate environmental risks whose consequences are ultimately borne by communities and ecosystems.

The article is available in the Abuja Journal of Public Law, a peer-reviewed open-access journal published by the Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Abuja.

Article: “The Limits of Strict Liability for Environmental Pollution in Nigeria: Towards an Absolute Liability Framework”

Authors: Dr Felix Chikwado Kamalu, Prof Olagunju G. A. and Adekunle Saheed Akinola

Journal: Abuja Journal of Public Law (ABJPL)

Volume/Issue: Vol. 5, Issue 1

Pages: 1–27

Publication date: 1 July 2026

DOI: 10.70118/abjpl.202605010.30

Read the full article in the Abuja Journal of Public Law