Abstract
CHALLENGES OF PIPELINE VANDALISM AND OIL INDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA
A.O. Ibeje*
ABSTRACT
From available statistics, a total of 9,107 oil spill incidences occurred between 1976 and 2005 resulting in about 3,121,909.8 barrels of oil spilled into the environment. Sabotage is currently the leading cause of oil spillage in Nigeria. Oil pipeline vandalization occurs through acts of sabotage. Sabotage here relates to various acts that interrupt the production and distribution of petroleum products Nigeria hasdeveloped a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP), which was revised in 2003 and reviewed in 2006. This include joint surveillance of pipeline Rights-of-way involving the host communities, stricter penalties for pipeline vandalism, aggressive public enlightenment on the negative impacts of pipeline vandalism on the environment as well as making supply of refined petroleum products affordable and readily available thereby making oil pipeline theft unattractive. As a third world country, this is one of the strategies put in place by the Nigerian Government for sustaining development and human capacity building in the oil industry.
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