Suspected Niger Delta militants have blown up a crude oil
trunkline of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) in Batan
community, Warri south west council area of Delta state. Dickson Ogugu, a community leader, confirmed the attack,
saying it happened around 1am on Monday. Lamenting the effect of such attacks in the region, Ogugu
appealed to militants to sheathe their swords and embrace the dialogue offer of
the federal government.
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| Niger Delta Avengers |
He recalled that earlier in the month, militants destroyed
an oil facility in Batan.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest incident,
as the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), the group at the heart of recent attacks on
oil assets, has not made any comment regarding the attack. The site of the attack has been cordoned off by security
personnel, who had a tough time locating it.
President Muhammadu Buhari has consistently appealed to the
militants to give his administration a chance.
In a programme on Channels Television on Sunday, Femi
Adesina, presidential spokesman, said the activities of militants would affect
the full implementation of the 2016 budget.
Though the militants have accused the government of not
showing encouraging signs of dilogue, Adesina reiterated the commitment of the
current administration to reaching a peace deal with the groups. “The intention is to implement that budget as much as
possible but then the circumstances are making it difficult because projections
are not being met because of what is happening in the Niger Delta and other
parts of the economy,” he had said.
“Every option is on the table. There was never a time anything
was ruled out. All the options were on the table. You will recall that when
some south-south leaders visited the president led by King Alfred Diete-Spiff,
he also disclosed that he had encouraged the security agencies to dialogue with
the militant and the leadership of that region. So, there was never a time that
anything was ruled out dialogue.”
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