Yenagoa — Exactly one year after the amnesty programme came into effect in the Niger Delta, militants bared their fangs again in Bayelsa State in the early hours of yesterday when they blew up two pipelines belonging to the Nigeria Agip Oil Company, forcing a shut in of 60,000 of crude oil per day.

Since the amnesty came into effect in October last year, the Niger Delta has enjoyed relative peace enabling oil production which was halved in 2009 by militant attacks on oil installations to climb to over 2 million barrels a day this year.



The bombed pipelines operated by Agip, a subsidiary of the Italian oil multinational, ENI Group, run from the Osiama oilfield in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area to Brass. The blast is believed to have caused an oil spill in the area.Sources said the militants also opened fire on AGIP officials who went to investigate the blast, but the men escaped unhurt.

The militant leader involved in the attack was said to have sent a message to Agip that the attack "is the beginning of a full scale war with the company and its operations in the area."



It was gathered that the militant leader, who was among the first militants to lay down their weapons under the amnesty programme, returned to the creeks a few weeks ago following his "dissatisfaction" with the implementation of the amnesty.

The man was said to have called on the management of Agip to demand for patronage but was turned down.

The militant who did not hide his identity sent a text message to the Agip station manager in charge of the Osiama flow station promising them hell.

An Agip official's text message to security operatives in Yenagoa after the attack read: "Technical operators visited Osiama field to re-open the OS 2Ls that is not flowing. While working, they heard a loud blast like dynamite on the pipeline right of way across the river.

"On going to verify, they saw a spray of oil and a boat with gunmen who opened fire on them. They (Agip operators) took off and have arrived at the station. They (militants) might have blasted the 10-inch pipeline too."

As at the time of this report, Agip was said to be evacuating its staff from the area for fear of a possible resurgence of full-scale militant operations.

The attacks is the first significant hit on Nigeria's oil and gas installations since an amnesty was granted to over 20,000 militants who laid down their weapons last year in return for promises of cash payments, reintegration and training programmes.

The Osiama flow station is one of the fields feeding the Brass Oil terminal, the largest oil lifting facility in the country.