JANUARY2007
The Corrib Gas-Pipe-Line Protests...a comparison:.
Why does Shell differentiate between local and national protest about the Corrib Pipe Line? They call the locals "natives" - and how will they document possible disasters along their pipelines?
NIGERIA PIPELINE
DISASTERS
May 2006: At least 150 killed in Lagos
Dec 2004: At least 20 killed in Lagos
Sept 2004: At least 60 killed in Lagos
June 2003: At least 105 killed in Abia State
Jul 2000: At least 300 killed in Warri
Mar 2000: At least 50 killed in Abia State
Oct 1998: At least 1,000 killed in Jesse
Lagos pipeline blast kills scores
At least 200 people have been killed in an oil pipeline explosion in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, the Red Cross says.26th Dec 2006. It is feared the death toll could be much higher.
Officials said the blast in the Abule Egba area happened as hundreds of people were scooping fuel from a pipeline punctured by thieves. Some 2,000 people have died in similar incidents in the past decade, including 150 last May in Lagos.(When many local people did not want to be connected to this incident, as relatives of those killed in similar accidents in the past have been prosecuted over the petrol theft. )
Despite being Africa's largest oil producer, Nigerians often suffer fuel shortages because of corruption, poor management and infrastructure problems.....it is in the world of politics and government, where corruption has been most damaging. For decades the government has accrued huge oil revenues, yet the country suffers from a lack of basic infrastructure, and tens of millions live in poverty. At the same time, some politicians and their business associates have amassed personal fortunes.
Pipelines often pass through poor
communities, who break them to steal the precious fuel.
As ...Nlolu Omotosho, Houston, TX said "Everything
boils down to poverty - I wonder why a country as rich as
Nigeria is in this kind of predicament "
Text taken from BBC World News reports.