Some of the oil pipelines ruptured in Nigeria's Niger Delta region are vandalised by the big oil companies, who then turn around to blame host communities, in a bid to extract some compensation from the federal government.
Oil companies in the Niger Delta accused of paying militants to damage pipelines
Decade-long oil spillage has damaged aquatic and plant life in Nigeria's oil-rich delta region.
Nigeria loses $41.9bn to crude oil theft in 10 years – NEITI. [aljazirahnews]
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In a recent story on how oil spillage is negatively impacting livelihoods and damaging animal and plant life in the Niger Delta region, the New York Times writes that: "Every night, two local men were posted to stand guard on her decks, watching over the suspected site of the spill, in the distance.
"They were there because community members feared that Chevron would secretly repair the pipe, or worse, commission militants to blow it up so they could claim vandals or oil thieves had caused the spill.
"Environmental advocates say that oil companies are often accused of this in the region."
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Tens of millions of barrels of oil have been spilled in the region since production commenced in commercial quantities in the 1950s, according to a 2011 study.
Some of the oil companies quoted in the report have declined comments for this story.
The amount of oil spilled in the Niger Delta quadruples the volume spilled in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster.
Nigeria's federal government is heavily reliant on oil revenues to fund the bureaucracy and the annual budget.
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