Even as N’Delta elders meet Buhari, Avengers bomb NNPC facility, say all exploration must stop

Barely a day after leaders of the Niger Delta had a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, militants of the oil rich region said they had carried out yet another attack on one of the major oil facilities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

An eye witness account said multiple explosions were heard by midday Wednesday, with balls of fire engulfing the vicinity within the Batan Flow Station in Ekweregbene community in Delta State.

A spokesman of the Niger Delta Avengers said that “Even the security operatives manning the area were surprised by the attack, which is a warning signal of what is to follow , if the ongoing meeting in Abuja is not stopped.

“Needed attention should be paid to our demands, which include that all intentional oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region should first of all suspend oil exploration pending resolution of the issues in the region,”

Insinuations are ripe that the latest attack by the militants might not be unconnected with the beginning of repair work on the pipeline.

Read also: Militants shun Buhari’s peace meeting, vow to continue bombings

Meanwhile, the Joint Military Task Force deployed to the Niger Delta to protect oil facilities on Wednesday confirmed that there was an attack at an oil field operated by NPDC in Delta.

According to spokesman for the joint force code-named “Operation Delta Safe,’’ Lt.-Col. Olaolu Daudu, troops deployed to the area heard an explosion at the Bantan Flow Station run by NPDC, a subsidiary of NNPC,

He said, “Troops of Operation Delta Safe located at Sector 1, in Delta while on routine patrol heard an explosive sound caused by suspected economic saboteurs at Batan Flow Station around Ekweregbene, Bantan general area. The incident is however, being investigated and details will be made available as events unfold”, he offered.

An NNPC official said with the development, Nigeria will lose about 200,000 barrels of oil per day until repair work is done on the damaged facilities.

This could jeopardize Nigeria’s plan to raise its production quota to make up for the losses it has been suffering in the past months at the hands of the militants, which reduced the country’s outputs from 2.2 million bpd to about 1.3 million bpd.

By Ebere Ndukwu …

RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now