"Nigerian fuel truck explosion kills 95; Scores burned while trying to scoop spilled gas" by Yinka Ibukun | Associated Press, July 13, 2012
LAGOS, Nigeria — A fuel truck veered off the road into a ditch, caught fire, and exploded in Nigeria’s oil-rich delta Thursday, killing at least 95 people who had rushed to the scene to scoop fuel that had spilled, an official said.
It was a tragic reminder of how little of the nation’s oil wealth has trickled down to the poor....
Witnesses said some charred corpses were lying in the area hours after the explosion, including bodies the size of children. ‘‘What did these small ones know about coming to scoop fuel?’’ asked Alagoa Morris, coordinator at advocacy group Oil Watch Nigeria.
He said women wailed at the scene of the explosion, desperately looking for their relatives. The location of some of the bodies suggested that they were trying to run away when fire consumed them, Morris added....
The Niger Delta has been an oil-producing region for decades, yet the majority of those living there remain desperately poor and mostly without access to proper medical care, education, or work. Anger over the situation has prompted young people to attack foreign oil firms based there and steal fuel from pipelines.
The crude that flows from the Niger Delta is the lifeblood of Nigeria’s economy. The OPEC member now pumps out about 2.4 million barrels of oil a day, making it Africa’s biggest producer.
And a leading source for AmeriKa!
Production dropped drastically during militant attacks that targeted pipelines. A 2009 government-sponsored amnesty program saw many fighters lay down their arms and the violence largely stop....
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Also see: Shell Oil Slick Nears Coast of Nigeria
I'm getting ready to flush this post.
"58 killed in central Nigeria raids and reprisals" July 09, 2012
JOS, Nigeria — Raids and reprisal attacks have left 58 people dead in Christian villages near a Nigerian city where authorities have struggled to contain religious violence, officials said Sunday.
Assailants launched ‘‘sophisticated attacks’’ on several villages near Jos early Saturday, said Mustapha Salisu, spokesman for a special task force made up of police officers and soldiers deployed in the area to curb years of violence....
Late Sunday, a Nigerian Red Cross official, Andronicus Adeyemo, said aid workers had counted 56 dead and more than 300 displaced people from the attacks. He said the killing of a federal lawmaker and a state lawmaker brought the deaths to 58 after the two officials were ambushed Sunday afternoon on their way to a mass burial for the victims....
‘‘As a nation, we must rise against those who are determined to return us to a state of nature where life has little or no value,’’ said David Mark, Nigerian Senate president, in a statement.
Authorities declined to comment on who they suspect, but similar raids have been blamed on Muslim herdsmen in the past....
And cui bono?
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