The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed that its fighters on Thursday destroyed a major pipeline belonging to Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at Adamakiri in Rivers State.
According to an online statement posted by Gbomo Jomo from the official website of MEND, the pipeline they destroyed carries petroleum products from Cawthorn channel to Bonny.
They also vowed to step up attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, adding that more destruction of major oil facilities would follow that of the Adamakiri attack.
When contacted, SPDC�s spokesman, Mr. Tony Okenedo said the company had dispatched a helicopter to overfly the area to determine what actually happened but the overfly was being hampered by poor visibility due to the rains that enveloped the Port Harcourt area.
The militant group also admitted that they facilitated the attack on Chevron oil facility in Delta State on Wednesday by providing the logistics for it, saying that it was just a warning attack.
�On Thursday April 17, 2008 at 2230 hours, commandos from MEND sabotaged a major Shell Petroleum Company pipeline at Adamakiri in Rivers State. That pipeline crosses from the Cawthorn channel to Bonny. We have decided to step up our attacks ahead of schedule and there will be many more to follow,� they vowed.
Meanwhile SPDC�s managing director, Mr. Basil Omiyi yesterday briefed President Umar Yar�Adua on the damaged pipeline and efforts to repair it this weekend.
The President, who has just been discharged from a German hospital where he had gone for a medical check, said he was disturbed by the fact that some elements in the Niger Delta were bent on sabotaging government�s efforts at engendering peace in the area.
Yar�Adua promised not to shirk the constitutional responsibilty for law and order, as well as safety of lives and property in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country.realised that it is better to destroy oil facilities in their territory since they do not benefit them in the first place. We have started enlisting men to join the fight that is inevitable. We can assure the oil companies that they are in for a raw deal as the military is not in the position to protect them,� MEND said.
Apr192008