BODO/ABUJA, Nigeria,(Reuters) – Militants launched new attacks in the Niger Delta yesterday, vowing to bring Nigeria’s struggling oil industry to a total halt, and the president cancelled a long-awaited visit to the region.
The army said militants killed six people on Wednesday when they ambushed a boat belonging to state oil firm NNPC in the Warri area.
Separately, the Niger Delta Avengers group said it had attacked two crude pipelines operated by Italy’s ENI.
“At about 2:00 am today @NDAvengers blew up the Ogboinbiri to Tebidaba and Clough Creek to Tebidaba Crude Oil pipelines in Bayelsa State,” the group said on Twitter.
“This is in line with our promise to all international oil companies and indigenous oil companies that Nigeria oil production will be zero.”
But the NDA said in a statement late yesterday that it was not responsible for the boat attack.
“Killing of sleeping soldiers is not our style,” the NDA said in an emailed statement.
The Avengers group has claimed responsibility for other recent attacks on Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell facilities. A wave of such attacks have helped drive the country’s oil output to a 20-year low.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari cancelled at the last minute a visit planned for Thursday to the Delta, source of most of Nigeria’s crude.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made the trip in Buhari’s place to launch a cleanup programme in an area badly hit by oil spills, vowing to work with community leaders to end militant attacks.
No reason has been given for the cancellation of what would have been Buhari’s first visit to the region since taking office a year ago. Western allies and local officials have told the former military chief that he needs to address poverty and oil pollution in the Delta to stop unrest.
