Jediael Peterson

This project examines how environmental degradation caused by oil extraction in the Niger Delta has produced new, female-centered forms of resistance in which naked protest and ritual mourning become political acts. Focusing on elderly women who weaponize their bodies against ecological and state violence, it explores how gender, ecology, and activism intersect in a region shaped by oil’s slow violence. Combining archival research, oral histories, and spatial mapping, this study reframes Niger Delta history through women’s voices, linking environmental devastation to embodied protest, displacement, and survival.