konknaijagirl | On 09, Mar 2013

Suspected ex-militants set a gas pipeline in OML 30, formerly belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State ablaze in the early hours of Friday morning.

The Miscreants who carried out the action were protesting the non- documentation of 315 ex-militant camps in Delta state by the Presidential Inter-Agency Task Force handling induction for the third phase amnesty programme.

The affected gas pipeline is located between Gana in Agbarha –Otor , Afiesere and Ekrajebu communities. An official of SPDC, however, said the company had divested its concerns in OML 30 the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company, NPDC and was , therefore, not in a position to make comments.

The militants say this is a trend that will continue until the government documents their amnesty slots.“We will continue to destroy oil installations and oil companies in Delta state are advised to pack until we get our amnesty slots. This is just a warning. Federal Government must document the remaining 315 ex-militant camps in Delta state like was done in phase one and two.

This incident is another of continued sabotages of the unsecured and ill maintained pipelines that transport highly flammable crude oil around Nigeria.  The environmental and safety risks this imposes are significant and the wave of terror which youths feel gets them attention is continuing to increase the threat and risk to health from exposure to exploration of crude oil, flaming of gas effluents and continued extensive spillage of gas and oil directly into Nigerian waterways over decades which has literally destroyed the water ways and confluence in the Delta region into South east and South Western Nigeria including the famed wildlife, aquatic biota and human living including forestry in the surrounding areas.

The hope that international intervention and assistance alongside government led bioremediation efforts will finally extend to Nigeria where unlike the Gulf minor spillage that prompted major international action people and not animals live continues to be a hope.

Nigeria supplies almost a fifth of the crude oil consumed in the USA and is one of the top ten suppliers of crude oil and crude oil by products in the world.

culled from the Guardian