Boats and helicopters have been mobilised to help clean-up the 40,000 barrel oil-spill off the southeastern coast of Nigeria. The oil company, Mobil, which is responsible for the spill, says rough conditions in the sea are hampering the clean-up operation by making it difficult to skim the oil off the surface of the water. But the company says that the slick is moving away from the coast in a southwesterly direction and that 50% of the oil may have evaporated by now. Environmentalists are concerned about the damage the spill has caused to fish life in the area. From Lagos, Hilary Andersson reports.

The slick of oil stretches from three miles off the coast at its closest point to twenty miles offshore at its head. The oil company, Mobil, says its moving away from the land in a south-westerly direction.

The 40,000 barrel spill is the largest oil spill in Nigeria in several years. Helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and boats have all been mobilised to help monitor and clean-up the oil.

Rough conditions in the ocean, though, are making it difficult to skim the oil off the surface of the water but chemical dispersants have been put in the water to break up the oil. Mobil says about half the oil may already have evaporated and says its main concern is that the slick does not hit the land, where more than thirty-thousand people live.

Many people in the region are fisherman whose livelihood is at stake. Environmentalists are also worried about the effect the spill will have on marine and bird life in the area.