Over 100 killed in oil pipeline explosion and fire

More than 100 people were killed when a ruptured fuel pipeline exploded and caught fire at a remote village in southeastern Nigeria last Thursday, Red Cross and local government officials said. Scores of people had gathered to scoop up petrol from the leak at Onicha-Amaiyi village in Abia State, 450 km east of Lagos. Officials said petrol had been oozing out of the pipeline for two weeks before the incident after thieves deliberately broke into it to steal fuel. A spark from a motorbike on Thursday night set off an explosion which engulfed in flames all those gathered at the site, they added. “Over 100 people were killed and dozens more injured are in hospital with various degrees of burns,” Emmanuel Ijewere, president of the Nigerian Red Cross told IRIN. He said the Red Cross was sending medical supplies to hospitals in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, where most of the injured were admitted for treatment. Hospital sources said the death toll was likely to rise because many victims of the blast had very severe burns. Tyson Arugi, the local government officialin charge of Onicha-Amaiyi village, also said that more than 100 people had died in the explosion. The state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which operates the pipeline, said the fire had been brought under control and the leak had been stopped. However NNPC officials declined to comment on claims by local people that the oil company had been informed of the leak several days before the explosion, but had failed to action to stop it. This Day newspaper reported that the broken pipeline became so popular as a source of fuel that hours before the explosion some enterprising policemen stationed their patrol vehicle on the road to the site, and began charging people 100 naira (80 US cents) each to allow them to collect spilt fuel. Although Nigeria is Africa's leading oil producer, the country is frequently plagued by fuel shortages. Local refineries struggle to meet the demand of Nigeria's 120 million population and large volumes of oil products are smuggled to neighbouring countries where retail prices are higher. The resulting shortages have encouraged thieves to tap into pipelines and steal fuel which is then sold on the black market. In the past four years more than 2,000 people have been killed by pipeline fires caused by such activities. The worst incident ocurred in 1998 when over 1,200 people died in a massive conflagration in the town of Jesse in the oil-rich Niger Delta. On Friday the government increased fuel prices by more than 50 percent to remove government subsidies on oil products and combat smuggling. However, although the petrol was increased by 54%, it remains cheap by international standards at just 40 naira (21 US cents) a litre. Diesel and kerosine - widely used for cooking - also rose by more than 50 percent. Trade unions grouped in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) swiftly condemned the price hike and urged the government to reverse it. "The NLC considers the decision...unfortunate and inconsistent with the will of the people. The decision will further undermine public welfare and compound the crisis of the economy," it said in a statement. Fuel price increases are politically very sensitive in Nigeria. In the past, they have often resulted in nationwide riots. However, President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was re-elected for a second term in April, recently warned the nation that fuel prices would have to rise. He said the government could no longer afford to subsidise fuel prices to the tune of 250 billion naira (US $2 billion) a year. Obasanjo the money would be better spent on social services and helping the poor.