On a sweltering afternoon, Longlife Bob returns empty-handed from his search for work at nearby building sites.
Before the oil spill, Bob, 40, was a fisher. On good days, he made an average of 80,000 Nigerian naira (about £85) from selling his catch. With this income, he has taken care of his family for the last ten years.
But things have changed. The spill that contaminated the Oluku river in Aleto, before spreading to Bob’s Akpajo community in June, destroyed his fishing nets and boat and polluted the river that had been his livelihood. An alternative livelihood is not forthcoming, at least for now. “We are suffering and life is hard for us,” Bob told openDemocracy.
