The residents of the town of Bille, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, are continuing to face a serious health emergency. Since October 2025, methane gas has been bubbling up in nearby rivers and swamps and is now affecting a significant amount of the town’s drinking wells. Bille’s school children have been forced to move to another community for safety. On 7 April, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission visited Bille to launch an investigation into the leaks and has ordered oil companies operating nearby to find a solution. While this is a positive development, little has been done to identify and stop the leaks. Amnesty International continues to call for the investigation to be expedited, for the findings to be made public, and for action to be taken to stop the gas leaks.
