Niger delta oil pipeline vandalism estimated to cost $14bn a year

Up to 52,000 hectares of land devastated in 2014, according to new estimates of cost to the Nigerian state and oil companies

Pipeline vandalism in the Niger delta costs the state and oil companies $14bn (9.3bn) a year and devastated up to 52,000 hectares of land in 2014, according to new estimates by a leading Nigerian research and development group.

But the way to stop the damage is not by militarising the volatile region but by providing jobs to unemployed youths and giving communities a share in legitimate oil profits, says Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) in a report that coincides with the 20th anniversary of the execution by the Nigerian government of writer and Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa.