Royal Dutch Shell shut down more of its production in Nigeria after a fresh militant attack on Saturday on a flowstation in the restive Niger Delta, where local militants have stepped up a campaign of violence. Security sources said that three wells had been blown up, as well as other equipment.
The main militant group behind a string of recent attacks in Nigeria’s southern oil region said on Friday it had sabotaged another pipeline. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said its fighters hit a pipeline late on Thursday in southern Rivers State — bringing to four the number of pipelines the group has reportedly hit in the past week.
A rebel group from Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta said it attacked two major oil pipelines there on Monday in what it called a message to the United States. In an email, a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said its commandos had carried out attacks against the pipelines located at Isaka River and Abonnema River.
Gang warfare will return to Nigeria’s oil-producing south unless President Umaru Yar’Adua brings to justice politicians who have fuelled the unrest, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday. Gangs behind kidnappings and oil theft in the Niger Delta were going unpunished partly because of their connections to politicians.
The risk of renewed violence in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta is increasing because militants are frustrated by a lack of concrete results from peace talks, a key negotiator said on Wednesday. Kingsley Kuku, a senior member of a government peace committee, said the government still had an opportunity to avert violence.
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/ 20 February 2008
A rebel group from Nigeria’s oil producing Niger Delta demanded on Wednesday that lawyers, relatives and the Red Cross be allowed to see their detained leader, Henry Okah, to confirm he is alive. The government denied a report by the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta that Okah had been shot dead.
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/ 11 January 2008
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) on Friday claimed responsibility for the blaze that started earlier in the day on a tanker berthed in Port Harcourt, the country’s main oil hub. "Mend confirms that its Freelance Freedom Fighters working inside the oil industry detonated a remote explosive device," the group said in a statement.
Armed groups in Nigeria’s oil-producing south are building up weapons and supplies for a major attack on an oil facility in the world’s eight largest exporter, militant and security sources said on Tuesday. The planned rebel offensive against Africa’s largest oil industry comes after the collapse of a government peace initiative.
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/ 15 November 2007
Unknown attackers blew up a Nigerian crude oil pipeline on Thursday, extending a month-old resurgence of violence against Africa’s top oil producer and dashing hopes for a government peace drive. The pipeline attack at Royal Dutch Shell’s Forcados oil terminal was a setback to the company’s efforts to restore output from the Niger Delta.
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/ 2 November 2007
Two prominent rebels fighting for autonomy in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta have traded insults in a public dispute that has exposed deep divisions before peace talks with the government. The row between the two militia leaders is apparently over money, weapons and strategy, but analysts say it is a power struggle that will strengthen the government’s hand.
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/ 30 October 2007
Nigerian kidnappers have released six hostages seized on October 26 from an Italian offshore oil production facility. Rebel group the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Mystras vessel, located 85km offshore.
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/ 24 September 2007
Western oil companies reinforced security in Nigeria on Monday after a rebel group threatened to resume attacks on Africa’s largest oil industry, but security sources played down the risk of a major disruption. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta threatened fresh attacks on oil facilities.
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/ 24 September 2007
A Nigerian militant group whose attacks have slashed crude production in Africa’s oil giant apparently announced an end to its voluntary ceasefire and vowed a fresh campaign of violence in the restive southern region.