Army said Niger Delta Avengers killed 2 soldiers, 4 civilians
The Nigerian Army, yesterday confirmed the death of six people including two soldiers reportedly killed by an armed group suspected to be the Niger Delta Avengers.
It said the soldiers were attached to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, House boat deployed to Ejere junction in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.
In a statement by Jonah Unuakhalu, Assistant Director Army Public Relations 4-Brigade, Nigerian Army yesaterday, the army said two soldiers and four oil workers were shot and killed by gunmen on Wednesday evening.
Unuakhalu, in the statement, said the suspected militants approached the houseboat in five (5) speed boats mounted with 250 horse power engines and disguised as normal commuters at about 5:50pm on Wednesday, before launching an attack which resulted to the death of 2 soldiers.
The statement also said that a soldier has been declared missing in connection with the incident, while 4 civilian staff attached to the house boat were shot dead.
It said the attack occurred when other members of the troops were on pipeline patrol”, noting that “the Brigade out rightly condemned the attack on our personnel carrying out their constitutional duties and other innocent staff.
According to the statement, “the Brigade will not be deterred by such dastardly acts, but will remain resolute in discharging its constitutional duties” and assured “those who carried ou//t the criminal acts will surely be sought, apprehended and brought to justice”.
Niger Delta Avengers did not Kill Soldiers
In a statement signed by Mudoch Agbinibo, the Avengers condemned all acts of violence against military and civilians, declaring “the days of killing and kidnapping” over.
“Killing of sleeping soldiers is not our style,” the Avengers said in an update posted on its website. “We promise the world that in this process of liberating our people, not a single blood of Nigeria soldiers will be wasted despite the provocation.”
“Our war is on oil installations not to take innocent lives.”
Agbinibo assured “the families of the affected soldiers that the group will bring the culprits to book.”
The militants called on other groups to follow their footsteps, saying the days of killing and kidnapping are over.
“This message is going to all groups parading themselves as freedom fighters. You can fight for your people without killing innocent souls NDA have (sic) proved it. We were able to drop Nigeria oil production from 2 million barrels (per day) to just 800,000 barrels without killing a soul. We are warning every group to follow our footsteps.”
The group claimed responsibility for a series of bombings that rocked Chevron, Agip and NNPC oil and gas installations across the Niger Delta in the last few days.
Last night, it claimed on its favourite communication platform, Twitter, that it blew up “Ogboinbiri to Tebidaba and Clough Creek to Tebidaba crude oil pipelines in Bayelsa State,” as part of its campaign to bring Nigeria’s oil production output to “zero.”
Shell suspends Oil Exports immediately
The Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited, the Nigerian subsidiary of Dutch oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell, on Friday has confirmed Niger Delta Avengers’ claims that a major damage was done to its oil installations in Delta State in the early hours of Friday, saying the attack had forced it to shut down crude exports indefinitely.
The statement corroborates earlier statements by the Niger Delta Avengers, a new militant group that has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on oil installations, in renewed hostilities across the oil-rich region.
The Avengers had shortly after 5 a.m. on Tuesday announced the bombing of a 48’’ export pipeline owned by Shell in the Forcados on Twitter.
“At 3:00 a.m. today, @NDAvengers blow (sic) up the SPDC forcados 48″ export line. We warned SPDC not to go ahead with repair works but they refuse,” the group tweeted.
Responding to news of the attack, Shell’s spokesman, Bamidele Odugbesan, said the incident happened between a shoreline and the Forcados Export Terminal which impacted seriously on its export capabilities.
“The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, operator of the SPDC JV, has confirmed signs of a leak on the 48 inch Forcados export pipeline at a location between shoreline and the Forcados terminal in the western Niger Delta, coming on the heels of a reported attack on the pipeline in the early hours of Friday, June 3,” the statement said.
Mr. Odugbesan said the company was assessing the impact of the damage and had “mobilised appropriate oil spill response measures”.
“We are yet to fully evaluate the potential impact and damage to the pipeline resulting from this latest incident. We have however mobilised appropriate oil spill response measures and will be conducting a joint investigation visit to the leak site with relevant stakeholders.
“We are currently focused on securing the pipeline to protect the environment. Given this latest incident and the wider security situation in the Niger Delta, we are unable to determine probable timing of resumption of exports from the Forcados terminal,” Mr. Odugbesan said.
Shell Nigeria is “the operator of the export line on behalf of the joint venture partners comprising the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC (55%), SPDC (30%), Total E&P Nigeria Ltd (10%) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (5%),” the statement said.
The latest damage to Shell installations followed a series of bombings that rocked Chevron, Agip, and NNPC oil and gas installations across the Niger Delta in the last few days, including other Shell-operated facilities.
On Thursday night, the group made a similar claims on its Twitter account, saying it blew up “Ogboinbiri to Tebidaba and Clough Creek to Tebidaba crude oil pipelines in Bayelsa State,” as part of its campaign to bring Nigeria’s oil production output to “zero”.
The post Niger Delta Avengers in 7days: Shell shuts down exports, 2 Soldiers Killed, Bombings Continue appeared first on The Whistle.
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