Niger Delta Avengers claimed five attacks on oil facilities Sunday. On Friday, it disarmed members of the Nigerian soldiers, gave them message for Shell and left them unharmed.
Radically armed militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, it was reported invaded a cluster of Nigeria soldiers guarding a facility owned by Shell Petroleum Development Company without a fatal incident. Unlike most clashes between the government forces and the militants, there was no kidnapping nor any fatal incident, instead, the militants overpowered the soldiers and treated then to a chat before leaving them unharmed.
It was on Friday afternoon when a fiercely armed team of the Avengers, in three gun boats stormed the seaside vicinity of Gbaraintoru community in Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa State where Shell operates a liquefied and natural gas gathering plant. An ill-equipped group of Nigerian soldiers began to retreat, but was outstripped by the militants. The militants quickly indicated they meant no harm, held their captors to a friendly chat and gave them a message to Shell.
The last major incident involving the militants and the Nigerian Joint Military Force in the embattled and oil-rich Niger Delta was early May, when three soldiers guarding an oil installation were shot and killed. The incident prompted Shell to close the terminal exporting Nigeria’s benchmark Bonny Light crude oil and evacuate workers from the oil field.
The story was initially reported by easternradio.com which interviewed one of the eyewitness of the incident. According to Eastern Radio, the militants courteously asked the men of the Nigerian Military to inform Shell to immediately close down the plant. According to the Eastern Radio, “They told them to inform Shell to shut down the plant at once; that they do not want to see that gas flare anymore. After which they zoomed off and were soon out of sight”.
The last major incident involving the militants and the Nigerian Joint Military Force in the embattled and oil-rich Niger Delta was early May, when three soldiers guarding an oil installation were shot and killed. The incident prompted Shell to close the terminal exporting Nigeria’s benchmark Bonny Light crude oil and evacuate workers from the oil field.
An inability of the Buhari’s regime to address the Niger Delta problems have provoked more attacks by the Niger Delta Avengers,; and a lack of strategies by the Nigerian Joint Military Force to protect the oil installations may have worsened the matter. For instance, just yesterday, the Niger Delta Avengers claimed five attacks on oil facilities region. In messages posted via its Twitter account Sunday, the militant group said it had blown up an oil pipeline at a refinery in Warri, in the southern Delta state, at a facility run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). Group also said it had attacked two lines close to Batan flow station in Delta state, which is run by an NNPC subsidiary. The group added that it had attacked two facilities run by U.S. Company Chevron near Abiteye in Delta state early Sunday.
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