Militants claim Nigerian oil pipeline blast

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) – Militants have again bombed a key pipeline in Nigeria’s Delta State, exactly weeks after they ordered oil firms out of the volatile region in bid to cripple the country's petrodollar-dependent economy.

In a tweet on Thursday, a militant group called the Niger Delta Avengers said: “We warned Chevron but they didn't listen. Niger Delta Avengers just blew up the Escravos tank farm main electricity feed pipeline.”

Neither the army nor Chevron reacted officially to the incident; both have yet to respond to Anadolu Agency's requests for comment.

However, at least two security sources from Delta State, the location of the tank farm, confirmed the incident to Anadolu Agency.

“What was damaged includes a strategic underground oil trunk line near Abiteye in Warri South [a local government area]. Precisely, the pipeline is along ... Seria creek,” according to a security source who asked not to be named because he has no authority to speak to the media.

On May 12, the militant group issued a two-week ultimatum to oil firms in the region to close or risk attacks, brushing aside the government’s threat to treat the militants as terrorists sabotaging the economy.

Mudoch Agbinibo, a spokesman for the violent group, had said: "If at the end of the ultimatum and you are still operating, we will blow up all the locations. It will be bloody. So just shut down your operations and leave."

The group claimed responsibility for bombings of key oil platforms in the region in February and earlier this month, resulting in substantial disruption of gas supply and power outages across Nigeria.