Barely a day after it threatened to
attack oil and gas installations within the upland part of the Niger
Delta, a new militant group, Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, on
Wednesday reportedly blew up a major oil trunk line in Isoko area of
Delta State.
The NDGJM had on Tuesday threatened to
attack oil facilities located in the upland of the region, including the
Warri and Port-Harcourt refineries, following alleged Federal
Government’s failure to develop upland communities as well as include
them in the ongoing dialogue with Ijaw militants.
The incident, which occurred at about
2am on Wednesday, left the pipeline which feeds the Eriemu Manifold,
operated by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company in Ughelli North
Local Government Area of the state, destroyed.
A military source at the 3 Battalion,
Agbarho-Otor, confirmed the attack but refused to give details as the
incident was being investigated by security agencies in the area.
The spokesperson for the group, Aldo
Agbalaja, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued
late Wednesday evening.
It said the operation was carried out
under its ‘Operation Zero’ which was targeted at national assets even
as it threatened more of such similar attacks in days to come.
The statement partly read, “The Central
Operations Command of the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate hereby
announces the commencement of demolition and evacuation of the uplands
tagged, “Operation Zero” to correct the wrongs that have afflicted our
people for years, seek justice for the perpetually cheated and protect
the identities of our people, who are co-owners of the wealth which
Nigeria has forever misappropriated.
“As a mark of our seriousness and to
prove we are people of our words, at about 0200hours of today;
Wednesday, August 10, 2016, operatives of the Niger Delta Greenland
Justice Mandate brought down a Major Trunk/Delivery Line from Isoko to
the Eriemu Manifold in Urhobo, belonging to the NPDC/Shoreline
Resources.”
The group also gave a strong warning to
the NPDC not to commence repairs on the affected trunk line as it would
not hesitate to attack its personnel.
“This is just a glimpse of what is to
come; there are several assets already penned up for destruction. This
line of action has been made inevitable by an unjust system, which only
responds to the violent, to the detriment of the peaceful and law
abiding,” the statement added.
Efforts by our correspondent to confirm
the incident from the zonal spokesperson for the NPDC, Mr. Ugo
Atugbokoh, were unsuccessful as calls to his telephone line were not
picked.
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