Massive oil spill in Nigeria as militants blow up pipeline

Militant attacks in southern Nigeria on a major oil pipeline have caused a massive oil spill into surrounding areas.

A spokesman for Italian ENI company, which is in charge of the oil operations in Bayelsa State, said on Monday that thousands of barrels of oil have spilled into waterways, farms and fishing grounds in the area after recent multiple attacks targeting the Agip oil pipelines.

The unidentified official said 16,000 barrels of oil per day were lost since explosions on Thursday and Friday which were blamed on militants who want a bigger share of oil revenues in the producing state.

Fishermen in the region said oil flowed unabated for two successive days while a community leader said the spill was the biggest in years in the Brass local government area.

Militant attacks are less prevalent in southern Nigeria compared to northern territories where the Takfiri group Boko Haram have killed thousands over the past six years in a militancy that has hugely undermined the security in the region.

Officials said on Monday in the latest such raids, at least 85 people were killed in a brazen attack by Boko Haram on Dalori village, located just five kilometers (three miles) from Maiduguri, the capital and the largest city of Borno State, in northeast Nigeria. Militants reportedly burned to death children after they firebombed huts during the raid on Dalori.

Similar attacks on installations and pipelines were reported last week in oil-producing southern states, with the government estimating the cost of the acts of sabotage at around $2.4 million a day.

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