Security and Theoretical Explanation of Pipeline Vandalism in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

This chapter explores the causes of onshore oil and gas pipeline infrastructure insecurity and critically analyses the vandalism of Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL). It does so by identifying the underlying socio-economic and political grievances that led to the vandalism of the NCTL pipelines. As well as further insecurity in the Nembe community and the wider Niger Delta region. It points out that some of these collective grievances exist in most resource-rich countries in the Global South. The chapter uses the Frustration-Aggression-Displacement theory (FADT) to analyse the underlying factors that trigger anger and frustration resulting in aggression that causes vandalism, and militancy problems (Almond, Almond and Coleman (eds), The Politics of the Developing Ages, Princeton University Press, 2015; Bushman et al., 2018; Dollard and Sears et al., 1939; Paes, W. C. (2003). Oil Production and National Security in sub-Saharan Africa. In Oil Policy in the Gulf of Guinea. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung). FADT is suitable for this research because it presents a more realistic analysis of the outcome of the socio-economic, political, and environmental impacts of oil and gas companies on local communities in Bayelsa. Thereby filling the gaps in Structural-Functionalism (SF) and Greed versus Grievance models. SF which came to political science by way of sociology sees society as a complex system. It proposes the integration of different inputs and processes of societal structures such as education, the extractive sector, and the criminal justice system (Ray, 2004). Its integrative nature makes it an explanatory hypothesis relevant to all aspects of political systems. However, the “greed” versus “grievance” model argues that the opportunity for benefits and income through increased power motivates greedy behaviours (Hoeffler, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism Journal 11:274–284, 2011). This greedy behaviours by political leaders are common phenomena in Nigeria, and most countries in the Global South. Grievance, on the other hand, is the outcome of deprivations, denial of benefits, and inequalities which leads to anger, tensions, fuel violent resistance, and conflicts. The outcome of using the critical discourse analysis technique in this chapter showed conflict in text and language in documented and literature evidence that narrates the social, cultural, political, and security structures in Nigeria and how they influence the oil and gas insecurity in Bayelsa.