Date Published: 02/15/10

Militants begin fresh attacks in Niger Delta

INSURGENTS of the Niger Delta have started to hit at key economic facilities in the volatile oil and gas region, saying their acts of insurgency will last for a long time in so far the Nigerian state has refused to give the oil-bearing communities socio-economic, political and environmental justice.

But, the renewed attacks by the aggrieved insurgents on the platform of the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), is largely not reported by the corporate-driven media. JRC however, comprises of some units of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the Reformed Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (R-NDPVF), and a couple of other groups.

JRC Spokesperson, Bakabio Walter, told our correspondent in an e-mail on Monday that they have been carrying out pockets of attacks on oil facilities to press home their demand for justice.

According to him, the most recent of their attacks was the  one at the early hours of Wednesday, February 10, 2010. ''On this day, one of our special commando units attacked and exploded the Tura Manifold belonging to Shell and located opposite Abonnema community in Rivers State''.

The said manifold connects Nembe Creek, Adamama, Belema, Soku Field, Ekulama 1 and Ekulama 2 Flow Stations to the Bonny Export Terminal.

''Our patriotic fighters fought and overpowered the military guards on duty (As all Shell Manifolds are always heavily guarded) before going ahead to explode the Tura Manifold. This is a follow up to an earlier attack on Obunama Creek last weekend'', the insurgent group said, pointing out that the goal is to effectively incapacitate the Bonny Export Terminal and reduce effectively, the export capacity and income of the occupation Nigerian State in readiness for an all out confrontation where they shall be resoundingly defeated.

Continuing, they added, ''in furtherance of our mission to achieve independence, our patriotic force attacked the heavily guarded Chanomi Creek in the early hours of Thursday, February 11, 2010 and overpowered members of the occupation force of the Nigerian State.

''The trunk line which belongs to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and transports crude oil from Escravos to far away Kaduna Refinery was exploded. Also, a gas pipeline connecting to Lagos was bombed in the process. With this, we have successfully cut off the supply of crude oil to Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical and part of the supply of gas to Lagos.

''The actions are continuous and are preparatory to the final war. Every little step we take today brings us closer to freedom.''