New pipeline attack shows Nigeria unrest spreads

AREPO, Nigeria (AP) — Thick plumes of smoke rose into the sky and fire danced across the fuel-slicked waters surrounding the Nigerian pipeline, another attacked and vandalized so thieves could steal the gasoline inside.

But this attack didn’t happen in Nigeria’s oil-rich and unrest-prone Niger Delta, where crude oil pipelines are routinely targeted. Instead, this attack occurred in Nigeria’s southwest, signaling a worrying expansion in the unstopped thefts hitting the country’s petroleum-based economy.