CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The inevitable and disastrous consequence of crude oil pollution for the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem has been a major source of concern to the government and people living in oil producing and industrialized countries. This had led to ethnic and regional crises in the Niger Delta region that generated significant tension between them and the multinational oil companies operating in the region (Vidal, 2010).Crude oil exploration, production and transportation in the Niger Delta region have increased tremendously since its discovery in Nigeria in 1956 and has become a veritable source of economic growth and the main stay of the Nigerian economy (Okoh, 2006).The global scale of oil production is staggering and its demand is in the order of 3.25 x 109 tones or 3.8 x 1012 liters per year and much of it is transported thousands of kilometers before it is used (Prince and Lessard, 2004).