Suspected militants in the early hours of
Friday blew up an oil and gas pipeline owned by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company
(NOAC) along the Tebidaba-Brass area of Brass local government area of Bayelsa
State, SaharaReporters has learned.
The Commandant of the Nigerian Civil
Defense and Security Corps (NCDSC), Desmond Agu, confirmed the attack. Our
security sources said a gang of heavily armed gangsters in two double 200
horsepower speedboats used explosives to blast
three different points on Agip’s
Tebidaba-Brass pipeline. Reporters learned that operatives of the Nigerian
Civil Defense and Security Corps engaged the militants in fierce exchange of
gunfire.
“Reports from the swamp area indicate that
last night (early hours of this morning) a gang of heavily armed youths with
two double 200hp speedboats used explosives to blast three different points on
the Tebidaba-Brass NAOC pipeline. [An] operation to confirm the blast areas and
extent of damage is to be carried out now, though my men exchanged fire with
them,” said Mr. Agu.
He said that his operatives fought the
attackers who blasted pipelines at Goulubokiri and Lasukugbene, but explained
that his officers had yet to reach any of the locations owing to the heat.
The latest attack came a few days after a
militant group, the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLPF), expressed
displeasure over President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s inability to address
the challenges confronting the Niger Delta region.
In a statement signed by “General” Akotebe
Darikoro, Commander of General Duties, “General” Torunanaowei Latei, Creeks
Network Coordinator, “General” Agbakakuro Owei-Tauro, Pipelines Bleeding Expert,
and “General” Pulokiri Ebiladei of the Intelligence Bureau, the militant group
condemned President Buhari’s reluctance to address the basic issues raised by
the militants.
The militant group said Mr. Buhari had done
little since his return from a medical trip to London where he received
treatment for an ear infection, adding that they had resolved that “the oil and
gas pipelines running from Ogboinbiri in Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa state to
Obrinkon in Ikwerre LGA of Rivers state is to be finally cut off from
transmission.”
The group’s statement added that “flow
stations of Ogboinbiri, Oporoma, Peremabiri, Tabidaba, Nembe, Brass, Chevron
platform in Koluama, Okordia-Zarama and Biseni including Gbarain-Ubie gas
gathering plant are to be set ablaze since
the oil companies are [a] major hindrance
to the development of the region.” They warned those staying around and within
the areas “to please leave those areas because our mission is to cripple the
economy of the country and not to kill any human being on earth.” The group
taunted “Nigerian securities who are claiming they are securing the oil
facilities in the region.”
The militant group commended the Minister
of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, for his recent visit to the region,
describing the minister’s visit as a “bold step he personally took to resolve
the injustice created and sponsored by the wicked companies and government in
Nigeria.”
The group accused Mr. Buhari, who serves as
Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, of relegating to the background Mr.
Kachikwu’s initiative. They stated that President Buhari “has no knowledge
about the suffering of the people in the Niger Delta region,” adding that his
mission was “to milk the region” while being deaf to the plight of the region.”
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