Ed Kashi

Nigerian Military Attack Poor Neighborhood

Brian — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:06:44 +0000

Residents of Aker Camp, a slum of Port Harcourt, pick through the remains of their lives. One week ago this neighborhood was attacked and burned down by the Nigerian military after one of their soldiers was killed while trying to foil a kidnapping of an Italian expat at a local bar. This kind of brutal attack on innocent civilians by the military is a constant reminder of the lack of human rights in the Niger Delta. Residents, who are all poor, try to salvage anything they can find, but this community of 3000 was completely burned down in this military reprisal.

Leaking Oil Wellhead Catches Fire

Brian — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:00:41 +0000

In the Ogoniland village of Kpean, an oil wellhead that had been leaking for weeks has turned into a raging inferno. The local youths keep watch, waiting for Shell to come and put the fire out. This is an environmental disaster for the local people, as it effects their crops, their water and air.

Pipelines of the Niger Delta

Brian — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:54:01 +0000

Okrika is a troubled area near Port Harcourt that has oil, refineries, pipelines and violence. Factional fighting is common here. Fishing is struggling, like in most of the delta, but was once the main source of employment.

Scenes of community life around the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum) pipelines that run directly through this community. Photo by Ed Kashi (6/23/2006).

Wading Through Polluted Waters

Brian — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:48:12 +0000

In the village of Odiemereyi, an oil spill from an old Total pipeline from 1968 spoils a swamp near fields of the community. People must pass through the polluted waters to get to their fields and farms.

Chief Sunday Ugwu, 53, whose land the spill has effected, wades through the oil muck to work in his fields. Photo by Ed Kashi (6/21/2006).

Aerial Views of Bonny Island Gas Terminal

Brian — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:43:35 +0000

Aerial views of Bonny Island NLNG (Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas) terminal. This terminal is the largest of it's kind in the delta and is a owned by a consortium of Shell, Total of France, Exxon Mobil and Agip of Italy.

The local villages are very close by and none of the inhabitants work in this facility. Photo by Ed Kashi (6/11/2006).

Fishing in Polluted Waters

admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:07:34 +0000

With the Mobil Exxon Gas Plant across the water, fishermen arrive to drop their catches of bonga fish, gold fish, silver fish and crayfish. Due to pollution caused by the oil companies, the catches have decreased in quality and quantity. This has caused major problems of unemployment for the local young men. The local women haggle over the size and price of their purchases along the waterside.

This scene is in the fishing village of Finima, which is a newly relocated community caused by the rapid growth of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas plant on Bonny Island.

The Mangrove Swamps of the Niger Delta

Brian — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:56:02 +0000

Aerials of the Niger Delta over mangrove swamps and the riverine creeks of Rivers State, which make up the majority of the delta, Africa's second largest. Photo by Ed Kashi (6/12/2006).

MEND patrols the Creeks of the Niger Delta

Brian — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:42:06 +0000

Militants with MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) brandish their weapons in the creeks of the Niger Delta. Photo by Ed Kashi (6/3/2006).

Views of the Trans-Amadi Slaughter

Brian — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:35:12 +0000

Views of the Trans-Amadi Slaughter, the main abbatoir of Port Harcourt. The conditions are very bad, with a lack of infrustructure and hygiene. The animals are killed in the open, their blood spilt into the waterways below and their skin is burned by the flames of old tires, which is what causes the thick clouds of black smoke that hang over the scene. Photo by Ed Kashi (5/30/2006).

Pipelines of the Niger Delta

Brian — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:42:07 +0000

Living conditions in Okrika, in the Niger Delta, with evidence of oil leaks and oil fires along the pipelines that run to the coast terminal managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). Photo by Ed Kashi (7/17/2004).