Suspected
militants in the Niger Delta once again have blown up two pipelines conveying
crude oil and gas.
The
attack comes a day after Chevron’s Okan offshore production platform around
Escravos in Warri, Delta State was blown up, a development that led to the
shutdown of the facility by the oil major.
On
Thursday night, a pipeline transporting crude oil to Warri and Kaduna and a
16-inch gas line, owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, were
blown up.
A
group known as Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for the
explosion.
It
said in a statement on its website, “To keep to our promise, the three days
ultimatum given to Chief Government Ekpemupolo has elapsed and he failed to
apologise to the Niger Delta Avengers, at 10:00 pm Thursday, May 5, 2016, our
strike team 4 hit the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation crude and gas
lines.
“The
crude line feeds the Warri and Kaduna refineries respectively, while the gas
line feeds the Lagos and Abuja electricity power supply.
With
this development the Warri and Kaduna refineries will be shut down and all
cities that depend on the gas line for power will all be in total darkness like
the creeks of the Niger Delta.”
Confirming
the development on Friday, an NNPC source said that the crude pipeline runs
from the Escravos terminal to the Warri refinery, from where a pipeline
supplies crude oil to the Kaduna refinery.
Tags
Business