Niger Delta: Militants Blow Up Another Pipeline

Sylvester Idowu, Warri - 20.06.2009.

The militants appeared not to be bothered by the amnesty being offered by the Federal Government as part of resolving the Niger Delta crisis.

Some heavily armed youths, in the early hours of Friday, blew up another major pipeline that delivers crude oil to the Brass Terminal in Bayelsa State.

Security sources told the Saturday Tribune that fighters, believed to be members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), stormed the Nembe creek in Bayelsa State at about 3.00 a.m. and used explosives to shatter the pipeline, which is being operated by Agip.

Confirming the development, MEND, in an online statement signed by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, claimed responsibility for the attack on the oil facility.

The militants said they encountered a military gunboat and dispossessed the seven soldiers on board of their weapons and stripped the boat of its weapons before it was blown up.

“Our fighters encountered a military gunboat and all the soldiers numbering seven were dispossessed of their weapons.

“The gunboat was also stripped of its weapons before it was disabled by explosives,” it added.

The militants claimed that the captured soldiers pleaded for their lives before they were spared.

“The soldiers pleaded for their lives to be spared, and we did,” they said.