NIGERIA – Nigerian militants said yesterday they had blown up two oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta in response to military gunboat and helicopter strikes which rights groups say have displaced thousands.
The army said it had clashed with militant fighters again yesterday at Kunukunuma in Delta state as it tried to flush the rebels out from their camps in the creeks.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said it had sabotaged two oil and gas pipelines near to Escravos which supply the 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) Kaduna refinery in northern Nigeria, which was shut for maintenance in November.
There was no immediate independent confirmation.
“We have begun nibbling again at the oil infrastructure. Already, two major trunk pipe and gas lines which were recently repaired have been blown up,” Mend said in an e-mail to media.
Local rights groups said the military’s use of helicopter gunships in recent days had triggered a “mass evacuation” of villagers, and urged restraint by the security forces. It asked both sides to allow humanitarian access to those displaced.
“There is no doubt that there are casualties from the current clashes who need urgent medical attention and there are thousands more who have fled their villages,” three local rights groups said in a joint statement.
Reporters saw dozens of displaced villagers sheltering in Ogbe-Ijoh hospital on the outskirts of Warri, the nearest main town.
Insecurity in the Niger Delta means the Opec member’s oil output, currently at around 1.9 million bpd, is running at less than two-thirds capacity, curbing foreign revenues and putting an additional strain on government finances. – (Reuters)