…The Niger Delta…has endured the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years by some estimates…[O]nly a few weeks ago…a burst pipe belonging to Royal Dutch Shell…was finally shut…[J]ust across the state line…fishermen curse their oil-blackened nets…buffeted by a spill from an offshore Exxon Mobil pipe…The oil spews from rusted and aging pipes, unchecked by what analysts say is ineffectual or collusive regulation…Caroline Wittgen, a spokeswoman for Shell in Lagos, said, “We don’t discuss individual spills,” but argued that the “vast majority” were caused by sabotage …We do not believe that we behave irresponsibly…” A spokesman for Exxon Mobil in Lagos, Nigel A. Cookey-Gam, said that the company’s recent offshore spill leaked only about 8,400 gallons and that “this was effectively cleaned up.”