Shell confirms oil spill in Nigeria

Shell confirms oil spill in Nigeria

LAGOS: The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell said on Friday that it
had sent a clean-up team to contain an oil slick, which had been
coursing from a sabotaged pipeline in southern Nigeria for more
than two weeks.

The firm said its engineers had been prevented on June 1 from
getting to the scene of the disaster in Imo State by a violent
demonstration by local youths.

The spill in the 18-inch wide Assa-Rumuekpe trunkline was
finally clamped on Wednesday, two weeks after the rupture, it
said.

Although the Shell statement did not indicate the extent of
human and ecological damage caused by the spill, the Vanguard
newspaper reported on its front page Friday that trees and
property worth 750 million naira (US$5.6 million) were destroyed
as a result of the disaster. --AFP