Smoke rises as an illegal oil refinery burns after a military chase in a winding creek near river Nun in Nigeria's oil state of Bayelsa, on December 6, 2012. Thousands of people in Nigeria engage in a practice known locally as "oil bunkering" - hacking into pipelines to steal crude then refining it or selling it abroad. The practice, which leaves oil spewing from pipelines for miles around, managed to lift around a fifth of Nigeria's two million barrel a day production last year according to the finance ministry. #

A man paddles a canoe through a swamp after an oil pipeline explosion caused by people who tried to steal fuel at Arepo village, just outside Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, on January 13, 2013. #

Ebiowei, 48, carries an empty oil container on his head to a place where it would be filled with refined fuel at an illegal refinery site near river Nun in Bayelsa State, on November 27, 2012. Locals in the industry say workers can earn $50 to $60 a day. #

A man named Godswill works at an illegal oil refinery site, where steam rises from pipes carrying refined oil from a burner into broken containers, in Bayelsa State, on November 27, 2012. #

Security officials move through a swamp as smoke rises after an oil pipeline explosion caused by people who tried to steal fuel at Arepo village, just outside Lagos, on January 13, 2013. At least three people were seen dead, according to a Reuters witness. #

A burnt canoe hull rests in a polluted creek after an oil pipeline explosion caused by people who tried to steal fuel at Arepo village, just outside Lagos, on January 13, 2013. #

A man named Godswill collects crude oil from a small storage pit filled with oil, which is waiting to be refined at an illegal refinery site near the river Nun in Nigeria's oil state of Bayelsa, on November 27, 2012. #

A crude oil refinery worker stands in front of a locally made burner in an illegal oil refinery site near the river Nun, on November 27, 2012. The worker said that he had been doing the job for two years and earned the equivalent of around $60 a day. #

An oil slick flows near abandoned drums at an illegal oil refinery site after the military chased oil thieves near the river Nun in Bayelsa State, on November 25, 2012. #

A passenger speedboat churns up the water, while in the background an illegal oil refinery is left burning after a military chase had occurred earlier, on December 6, 2012. #

A young woman named Akpomene, coated in oil stains as she sits in a canoe near river Nun in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, on November 27, 2012. Akpomene fishes in the creek and sells the fish to help her family. She washes after fishing but still has sticky rashes on her body. #