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Oil terminal attack repelled
13/11/2007 20:02 - (SA)
Lagos - Troops repelled an armed attack on
one of Nigeria's largest oil export terminals on Monday,
industry sources and officials said.
It was the third raid on a major oil facility in Africa's
largest producer since the arrest of a militant leader in
September, but exports from the company's 400 000
barrel-per-day Qua Iboe terminal were not affected.
"Eight boats of militants armed with machine
guns took part in the attack," one industry source said.
A spokesperson for ExxonMobil said the attack was repelled by security agencies.
Workers were locked down in secure areas of the terminal,
but oil and gas production were not affected. No tanker was
loading crude oil at the time, she added.
Militants ended ceasefire in September
Industry sources said the militants had pulled back, but
could still launch further assaults. The
military deployed reinforcements to the area, located on the
south-eastern coast of Nigeria.
Militants whose attacks have cut Nigerian oil output by
one-fifth ended a five-month ceasefire in September when militia leader Henry Okah was arrested on arms trafficking offences in Angola.
They had called off attacks when President Umaru Yar'Adua was inaugurated in May to give him a chance to make good on a promise to address grievances of poverty and neglect in the vast wetlands of southern Nigeria.
Oil workers kidnapped
But Okah's group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta (MEND), announced the end of the ceasefire on September 23 and accused Nigeria of being behind his arrest.
Gunmen kidnapped 13 oil workers from two different offshore
oilfields in October. All were released after a few days. MEND
claimed responsibility for both abductions.
The government's attempts to lure militants to the
negotiating table has split them into factions, and activists in
the region say the resurgence of attacks is also a symptom of a
struggle for supremacy in militant ranks.
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