Niger Delta militants hit another oil pipeline

Niger Delta militants hit another oil pipeline

Saturday, January 30, 2016 11:58 pm


A crude oil pipeline in Nigeria’s southern state of Bayelsa operated by the local subsidiary of Italy’s Eni was attacked on Thursday night, a state lawmaker told reporters on Saturday.

This is the second major attack Nigeria’s oil  installations since an arrest warrant was issued this month for former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, known as Tompolo.

The hits follow years of relative calm in the country’s oil-producing region after a 2009 amnesty halted a spate of attacks on oil installations and kidnappings of expatriate workers.

“I want to condemn the latest attack on the Agip pipeline at Kpongbokiri. This is a clear sabotage by economic saboteurs,” Israel Sunny-Goli, a member of the Bayelsa state assembly, said after preliminary investigations had been concluded.

He said attackers hit a crude pipeline near Brass, a coastal city and site of a crude export terminal. Eni operates in Nigeria through its subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company.

A spokesman for Nigeria’s state oil company said he could not yet say whether exports would be affected.

 


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