20 dead in Nigerian pipeline fire

A government spokesman said 20 people in southeast Nigeria died when a broken gasoline pipeline caught fire, burning alive those gathering the fuel. The fire happened in a remote village in Abia state, near Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta. Abia state government spokesman Ugochukwu Emezue said yesterday that the fire happened Sept. 23, but it took days for the information to reach officials. Pipeline ruptures remain common in Nigeria, an oil-rich nation where militants and criminals routinely tap into lines to steal crude oil and refined gasoline. Fires can easily and accidentally be sparked by those attempting to gather the fuel. In September, Nigeria’s state-run oil company said suspected thieves shot dead three of its workers in southeast Ogun state after rupturing a gasoline pipeline to steal fuel. Separately, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed yesterday his government would work to harness the huge potential of the oil-rich country, which remains dogged by poverty, corruption and violence. “I bring you today a message of renewed hope and faith in the immense possibilities that lie ahead,” Jonathan said in a national broadcast marking Nigeria’s 52nd anniversary of independence from Britain. “The baton is now in our hands. Let me assure all Nigerians that we shall not fail,” said Jonathan, who was elected last year after his predecessor Umaru Yar’Adua died in 2010. While battling insecurity, “the fight against the scourge of corruption is (the) top priority of our administration. We are fighting corruption in all facets of our economy, and we are succeeding,” he said. With 160 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and its largest oil producer, but corruption is rampant. Arab news