Nigeria, Feb. 22 -- In some oil-producing communities in Onna, Akwa Ibom State, South-south of Nigeria, darkness has been replaced by fire.

As dusk settles over Ikot Ebekpo, Ikot Ebidang and Ikot Annang in Onna, an orange glare pierces the sky. The flame rises and roars from twin stacks, casting long shadows across zinc rooftops and vibrating through walls like a low-flying jet that never passes.

Children wake in fright. Mothers sit outside fanning their babies. Men pace restlessly, waiting for morning to come.

"It was supposed to burn for only seven days," says Edward George, standing metres from the flare in Ikot Ebekpo. "That is what we were told." The flare has been burning for more than a month.

"At night, the community becomes d...