State government launches inquiry into alleged massacre

The Benue State government in Nigeria’s central region has launched an inquiry into an allegation that security forces last week shot dead more than 10 people near the village of Shawa, where a fuel pipeline was found ruptured, officials said on Monday. They said Benue Governor George Akume told people in Shawa at the weekend that he had set up a special panel to investigate the accusation they made against members of the Special Task Force on Pipeline Vandalisation. Community leaders were said to have complained to the state government that members of the force had visited their village early last week and asked to be taken to the burst pipeline. “They were led to the site by scores of local people, including the plain curious. But on getting to the site they were asked by the security operatives to run for their lives and as they ran they allegedly opened fire on them, killing more than ten people,” a senior official of the Benue State government told IRIN. He added that Akume decided to visit the village to demonstrate his concern at the allegation and his intention to find out what had actually happened. Fuel pipeline ruptures have become frequent in Nigeria in recent years. They have often resulted in explosions and fires, claiming hundreds of lives. The Nigerian authorities frequently blame such incidents on deliberate vandalisation by local people seeking to steal fuel from the pipelines. As a result, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government set up the special security force to monitor and protect the pipelines. However, some environmentalists have blamed the mishaps on worn-out and corroded pipelines which, they say, are poorly maintained by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.