An Original Investigation into the Theoretical Basis for Environmental Crime Governance in the Niger Delta

Environmental crime in the Niger Delta, encompassing illegal oil bunkering, gas flaring, dumping of industrial waste, and illegal fishing, represents one of the largest-scale crime categories in Nigeria by economic value and social harm, yet its governance remains theoretically underspecified in the criminological literature. This study conducted an original theoretical investigation into environmental crime governance in the Niger Delta, developing a governance framework grounded in green criminology, regulatory theory, and political ecology. A constructive theoretical methodology combining systematic review of 65 green criminology and environmental governance publications from 2018 to 2024, original fieldwork across Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta States with 30 community environmental monitors, 15 regulatory officials, and 10 environmental law specialists, and comparative analysis with environmental crime governance frameworks from the Amazon and Gulf of Mexico oil regions was employed. Systematic review confirmed that green criminology's primary concepts (eco-global criminology, zemiology, harm-centred approach) require Nigerian postcolonial political adaptation, specifically theorising how state capture by oil interests creates a structurally regulatory-compromised governance environment. The original Niger Delta Environmental Crime Governance Framework proposes a polycentric governance architecture combining formal state regulation with community-based environmental monitoring, corporate liability mechanisms, transnational financial crime enforcement targeting criminal proceeds from environmental exploitation, and restorative environmental justice for affected communities. Each governance layer is theorised with specific institutional design implications. Expert review by 18 green criminology and governance specialists confirmed the framework's original contribution.

Keywords: environmental crime governance, green criminology, Niger Delta, original framework, oil crime