Nigeria's Oil Killing Fields

Kelpie Wilson: The title of your talk today was Terrorism: Oil and Gas Exploitation in Nigeria. What do you mean here by terrorism?

Simon Amaduobogha: Terrorism is a situation where people are attacked. They are being oppressed and they are being intimidated into submission by oil companies and the government of Nigeria so companies can have their way. There is a lot terror when it comes to oil operations in the Niger Delta, resulting in the destruction of property and the life of the people in these communities.

K.W.: You mentioned in your talk that terrorism presents different faces there.

S.A.: Yes, there are four different faces of terrorism. Number one is the issue of spilling the oil through poor maintenance of pipelines, thereby resulting in over 100 oil spillages a year, which is abnormal. So you cannot say it just happened. It is intentional, the way we now see it. Two is the destruction of farmlands through the laying of pipelines in the best places, and three, this destroys the livelihood of the people. Fourth is the gas flares burning the people, making it uncomfortable to live nearby. They affect the respiratory system and even the crops. <snip>

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