On July 16, 2000, no fewer than 100 people died as a result of a devastating oil pipeline explosion between the Delta State villages of Ifie-Kporo and Ijala.
According to eyewitnesses, the blast occurred in the early hours after unidentified persons were said to have tapped the pipeline to siphon fuel, a practice that has become tragically common in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
Eyewitnesses also claimed that residents had gathered at the ruptured line to scoop petrol into jerrycans when the pipeline ignited, triggering a massive inferno.
“Residents woke up this morning to a massive inferno and saw hundreds of bodies,” said a journalist at the scene.
Rescue teams reported that many of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Boatmen in the area said they heard an explosion before dawn and saw the glow of flames across the mangrove swamps.
Delta State officials urged residents to stay away from vandalized pipelines, citing poverty and fuel scarcity as driving factors behind the dangerous practice. Security agencies have launched an investigation into the vandalism that preceded Sunday’s blast.
July 16, 2008: Rivers State Naval Base Attack Leaves 5 Dead
On July 16, 2008, at least 30 armed men in speedboats launched an attack Wednesday on a Nigerian Navy vessel guarding key oil installations in Rivers State, sparking a gun battle that left five people dead.
Spokesman for the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, disclosed that the assailants stormed the naval location at Olubiri Navy House in a pre-dawn assault.
“There were heavy casualties on the part of the militants,” Lt.-Col. Musa told reporters. “They killed three militants. It is also feared that one naval personnel died in the process, and one civilian.”
Four other navy personnel and crew members were injured in the exchange of fire and have been taken to Bonny Island for medical treatment, according to a statement from oil firm Addax Petroleum, whose security vessel was involved.
Military officials said no oil facilities were affected in the attack. The navy beefed up patrols around strategic oil and gas installations across the delta region following President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s directive to forestall further attacks.
No group had claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack as of press time. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, which has led most attacks on oil facilities since 2006, denied involvement in an emailed statement, saying “no MEND units or affiliated groups have reported such heavy losses.”
Security sources said the attackers used more than 20 gunboats in coordinated strikes over a two-day period. The military responded with helicopters, jet fighters and additional gunboats.
