S uspected 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. SaharaReporters 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.”



saharareporters.com/2016/07/08/niger-delta-militants-blow-agip-pipeline-bayelsa

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