Militants destroy oil pipeline
2008-09-17 14:16
Edward Harris
Lagos - Nigeria's main militant group said on Wednesday it destroyed an oil-pumping station and a pipeline that crosses southern Nigeria, extending a spate of violence into its fifth day.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an e-mailed statement that it destroyed the pipeline in a rare daylight attack on Wednesday. If confirmed, it would be the group's second attack in a 24-hour period.
The group earlier said it attacked an oil-pumping station overnight, battling with security forces protecting the so-called flow station run by the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and destroying the site. Military spokesperson Sagir Musa confirmed the attack, but had no details. Shell officials had no immediate comment.
In recent days, violence has flared across Nigeria's restive Niger Delta oil region, with a series of rare ground battles between militants and Nigerian troops that previously have tended to avoid confronting one another in the region's vast system of rivers and creeks.
On Saturday, the military task force charged with calming the region launched a deadly attack on a militant base camp with landing craft, helicopters and airplanes.
The militants have since retaliated by sending raiding parties from their camps deep into the mangrove swamps to target military personnel and oil infrastructure.
At least nine militants and several members of the armed forces have been killed. There have also been civilian casualties.
On Sunday the militants declared that the latest clashes with the military meant the region has slipped into a state of war.
The militants say they have been agitating for the last three years to force the federal government to send more oil-industry revenues to their areas, which remain deeply poor despite five decades of crude production.
Their attacks on oil infrastructure have trimmed nearly one quarter of Nigeria's daily production, helping send oil prices to all-time highs in international markets.
A full-blown civil war, however, would be a nightmare scenario for the oil industry, since large-scale battles could leave the country's network of wells, pipelines and export terminals in tatters and insecurity would prevent repairs. Some oil industry officials say that daily production could fall quickly to zero.
- AP