A new militant group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers has claimed on Twitter that it attacked a gas and crude oil pipeline belonging to state oil firm NNPC despite the presence of government troops guiding the facilities. “At 11:45pm on Thursday @NDAvengers blew up other #NNPC Gas and Crude trunkline close to Warri,” Niger Delta Avengers said.
An NNPC spokesman said a team of investigators was being put together to verify the claim by the group. “If it was in the Warri area, I don’t think there is any new pipeline that has not been breached by the militants. But we will investigate,” the spokesman said.
The group also restated its warnings to oil firms to close down their operations in the region, promising to unleash more devastating attacks. “Oil companies and Nigeria military, watch out something big is about to happen and it will shock the whole world,” it said.
The new militant group also said it has rejected a peace move launched by the Nigerian government on Thursday to end the violence in the region, demanding instead for “a Sovereign State not pipeline contracts.” The Nigerian government and the nine states of the Niger Delta region agreed Thursday to jointly raise a security team to curb growing militancy. Platts.com
Pix: Niger Delta militants
