(NSI News Source Info) February 8, 2009: NIGERIAN soldiers repelled an attack by gunmen early today on a gas plant operated by Royal Dutch Shell in the southern Niger Delta, killing three of the suspected militants, a military spokesman said.
"At about 4 am (03:00 GMT) this morning some suspected militants attacked the Utorogu gas plant in Delta state," Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the joint military taskforce in the western Niger Delta, said. 
Fighters with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) raise their riffles to celebrate news of a successful operation by their colleagues against the Nigerian army in the Niger Delta. MEND has declared a full-scale "oil war" against the Nigerian authorities in response to attacks by the Nigerian military launched against the militants. "Our target is to crumble the oil installations in order to force the government to a round table to solve the problem once and for all", said Boy Loaf, leader of the militants.
"Our troops responded and killed three of the attackers and captured one, who is seriously injured. One soldier was wounded and two Shell workers were wounded and are receiving treatment."
Shell could not immediately be reached for comment.
Abubakar said there was no impact on the facility and that soldiers were still guarding the site. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The main militant group in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), called off a five-month-old ceasefire a week ago, warning of a "sweeping assault" on Nigeria's oil and gas industry, the biggest in Africa.
But MEND, whose attacks on oil facilities have shut down more than a fifth of Nigeria's crude oil output over the past three years, warned its assault would begin in Rivers state, next to Delta state.
No comments:
Post a Comment