Niger Delta Avengers said on Saturday it had carried out its first attack in the Niger delta since it declared in August it was halting hostilities to pursue talks with the government.
The militants said they attacked the Bonny crude export line on Friday night.
They have in previous months launched assaults which have cut crude production, which was 2.1 million barrels per day at the start of the year, by around a third.
In a statement on its website the group said it “brought down oil production activities at the Bonny 48 inches crude oil export line” through its “strike team”.
The statement issued by spokesperson of the group, Brig. Gen Mudoch Agbinibo reads:
BONNY EXPORT LINE IS DOWN
On the 23rd September 2016, our strike team at 20:40PM hours time has brought down oil productions activities at the Bonny 48 inches crude oil Export Line.
This action is a signature to the over dramatization of the so-called dialogue and negotiation process on the side of President Muhammadu Buhari and his government.
Since, the cessation of hostilities and the commitment of the PAN Niger Delta Elders and stakeholders team, the Nigerian government and her agents are turning the expectations of the Niger Delta to shameful scenes obtainable in Nollywood acts and as well intimidations, blackmails and continuous profiling of Niger Delta sons and daughters.
This is only a wakeup call; we may not have other way to say it better.
We are still in favour of the dialogue and negotiations but we are warning against “the peace of our time! We want the peace with honour”.
We will resist all actions undermining the ceasefire from side of the government and it security agents/ agencies.
The world is watching, time is running against the Nigerian state; while we were promised that the concerns of Niger Delta will be addresses once a truce is declared, the activities of the government and her agents are not assuring enough, there has been no progress and no breakthrough.
We cannot be continuously fooled, the government cannot justify the indiscriminate targeting of Niger Delta youths while glorifying on these victimization of law abiding citizens of the region
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The Avengers are seeking a greater share of Nigeria’s wealth to go to the Niger Delta where most crude is produced.
They intimated that the attack was a “wake up call” for the government, which it accused of intimidating youths in the region since the ceasefire began.
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