The first of the major oil pipeline fires in Nigeria's Niger Delta,
the Idjerhe ["Jesse"] fire
was also the most destructive in its impact. It roasted to death well over
a thousand people, many of them caught in their homes or nearby farms. The
fire erupted from leaking oil pipelines, owned by Nigeria's Federal
Government, which carries crude petroleum oil from the Niger Delta
for hundreds of miles to Kaduna refineries in Northern Nigeria. Laid more
than twenty-five years ago, close to communities, these oil pipes are
troubled by poor maintenance and vandalization.
