JTF claims foiling attack on oil facility

But the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which claimed responsibility for the attack, said it was successful. This is the second time in 48 hours that MEND has claimed attacking Chevron flowstations in Delta. The latest strike is the fourth allegedly carried out by the armed group since the military began its offensive in the Niger Delta.

In a reaction to MEND’s claim yesterday, JTF described it “as a figment of their imagination.”

MEND had in two statements sent to media houses yesterday morning said it struck at “the Abiteye flowstation operated by Chevron today, Monday, June 15, 2009 at about 0200 hours triggering another ‘system failure,’ which caused a massive fire outbreak that is consuming the entire facility.”

The group alleged that “the Abiteye Jacket 1 and 11 facilities belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited were blown up with explosives minutes after the destruction of the Abiteye flowstation at about 0200 hours today, Monday, June 15, 2009.”

The JTF however said the militants came in their dozens to carry “out the nefarious acts” but were overpowered by its “superior firepower.”

It said military personnel had been guarding the flowstation to ensure the right environment for the continuation of legitimate economic activities.

JTF spokesman, Col. Rabe Abubakar, said in the ensuing gunfire, the militants were “forced to flee in disarray with various degrees of gunshot wounds.”

Abubakar said there were no casualty on the side of the troops and that the facility was secured.

He said that Nigerians should not take the criminals seriously, as they were only out to spread lies to gain cheap popularity and false glory for their personal gains.

The military statement read in part: “At about 1.40 a.m. today June 15, 2009, the men of the Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Hope, foiled an attack by suspected militants on Abiteye (Chevron) flowstation in Delta State. The suspected militants came in their dozens to carry out the nefarious acts and this led to heavy exchange of gunfire between the JTF troops guarding the facilities and the miscreants. However, the hoodlums were over-powered by our troops and forced to flee in disarray with various degrees of gunshot wounds while there was no casualty on our side and the facility was secured.”

However, MEND has threatened to destroy the entire oil infrastructure in Delta State and extend the action to all the states in the Niger Delta region and off-shore.

Its spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said MEND fighters used explosives to destroy the Abiteye Jacket 1 and 11 facilities and set them ablaze yesterday.

According to him, “MEND can confirm that the Abiteye Jacket 1 and 11 facilities belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited were blown up with explosives minutes after the destruction of the Abiteye flowstation at about 0200 hours today, Monday, June 15, 2009. Jacket 1 and 11 are currently on fire.”

Gbomo said in spite of having to watch Niger Delta resources used to develop other regions to its detriment and civilian communities destroyed, MEND now witnessed a “brazen absence of federal character in all the key positions in President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration, which has been selfishly taken up by the North.”

He said: “We hope that by the time the oil and gas exports come to zero, Nigeria will maintain those positions from the export of groundnut oil.”

MEND has in the last 21 days attacked four Chevron facilities in Delta State. The first attack was on major trunk lines, which affected the flowstations at Alero Creek, Otunana, Abiteye, Makaraba and Dibi resulting in the loss of over 100,000 barrels per day.

Last Tuesday night, MEND said it launched devastating attack on Chevron Otunana flowstation but the military said it was a fire outbreak.

To avoid this recurring situation, MEND said “our technical advice to oil company systems and electrical engineers is simply to remove and discard the causative factor, which we have identified above, then replace it with justice and that should do the trick.

“Our advice to all Niger Deltans residing in Northern Nigeria, including Abuja, is to return home within the next eight weeks because a major event will occur in that part of the country and reprisal attacks directed at them cannot be ruled out. The same applies to the northerners residing in the Niger Delta axis.”

The leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante Force, Ateke Tom, has declared his readiness to surrender and hand over arms to the Federal Government when the modalities for the proposed amnesty are completed.

Tom, who spoke through his counsel, Ikenna Enekweizu yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, urged the government to make public the conditions for the said amnesty and put in place its legal framework and others to facilitate the implementation of the policy.

He said that the militants’ leaders were indifferent to the offer because of the insincerity of the past administrations.

“They (militants leaders) have failed to come out and surrender due to the insincerity of the government; they are not yet sure of the government’s sincerity hence they are afraid that government wants to bring them out and kill them but the moment we see the sincerity of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, members of the Niger Delta Vigilante Force, including other militant leaders, are prepared to hand over our arms and ammunition,” he said

Tom therefore urged the government to match its words on the amnesty offer by stopping all military operations in Niger Delta and immediately withdraw its troops from Gbaramatu Kingdom and other places.