Nigeria is the archetype of the oil nation. Nigeria is the world's tenth largest producer and eighth largest exporter of crude oil. (EIA, 2013) However, since its establishment in the 1950s, the country has experienced environmental deterioration due to oil spills (Watts, 2012). The coastal zone of Ondo State is one such region where crude oil exploration is ongoing. It is located between the Lagos coast characterized by very high population density and industrial activities and the Delta coast where there is a high volume of crude oil exploration underway (Olujimi, Emmanuel & Sogbon 2011). Thus, the area is experiencing an escalation of domestic and commercial activities. . For example, in 1998, Chevron, one of the world's largest multinational energy companies, was condemned by residents of Ilaje for dumping toxic waste and oil, abandoning waste pits, and burning gas along the axis of the Atlantic Ocean (Turner, 2001). In 2002, a significant volume of crude oil gushed in the same area from Chevron's A and B wells (ERA, 2000). Currently, seventeen (17) communities in the coastal zone of Ondo State are affected by oil spill due to activities at the Bonga field operated by Shell, another multinational oil company. These spills are caused by corrosion, burst oil pipes, poor infrastructure maintenance and corruption. A report published by Amnesty International in 2013 revealed instances in which Shell erroneously reported the degree of oil rupture, the cause of oil spills, and the extent of remedial action (Amnesty International, 2013). The consequences for human rights are serious. According to traumatized residents of the affected area, children are falling ill and fish are dying due to contamination of...... middle of paper ......terature (Vogt, 1990; Amadi, Abbey & Nma, 1996; ; John and Okpokwasili, 2012; Rodrigues da Silva Júnior et al., 2013). However, these studies do not combine microbial, physicochemical, mutagenic, genotoxic and heavy metal analyses. Therein lies the beauty of this research. According to the available literature, no toxicity studies of oil-polluted areas using microbial tests such as Ames test, SOS ChromoTest kits and Toxi-ChromoPad have been carried out in Nigeria. Therefore, this study is very relevant because the knowledge obtained will be used to measure the bioavailability of oil spills, the potential risk, the degree of mobility and the fate..