Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) yesterday launched into a gun battle with members of the militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), in the creeks of Bayelsa State in the aftermath of twin blasts by the militants on two pipelines belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and Aiteo.
Simultaneouly, soldiers laid siege to Oporoza community, Warri South-West council area of Delta State, suspected to be the hideout of wanted ex-militant, Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo.
The troops arrested seven suspects and recovered explosives, arms and ammunition.
There is suspicion in security circles that the NDA is working for Tompolo who has repeatedly denied the claim.
Attacked at 2.15am yesterday were Nembe 1, 2 and 3 Brass to Bonny Trunk lines belonging to Aiteo, the latest by the group on targets in the oil and gas sector of the economy.
Aiteo acquired the 100kn Nembe trunk line from Shell Production Development Company (SPDC) in 2014 but Shell still uses it to convey crude to its Bonny Export Terminal.
The militants, who accessed the locations of the pipelines in speedboats, reportedly blew up the trunk lines with the aid of dynamites.
A civil defence operative said that after the onslaught, the militants laid ambush around the area apparently to stop security operatives from accessing the crime scene.
He said: “There were two blasts on Agip pipeline, one from Tebedeba to Brass. It happened opposite Orubiri community in Nembe. The other blast happened in Legosgbene in Southern Ijaw.
“As I am talking to you now, our team has advanced to the Legosgbene. The perpetrators are laying ambush. We have been exchanging gunfire with them to be able to reach the site of the incident to see exactly what happened.
“Our team is also advancing to Orubiri in Nembe with support from the army to ascertain the extent of the damage. Only the team from Nembe is being assisted by the army. For the Southern Ijaw, it is only the civil defence team that is advancing.”
The State Commandant, NSCDC, Mr. Desmond Agu, confirmed the incident and said the militants were exchanging gunfire with his men at Southern Ijaw.
He said: “We have deployed two teams to the two different locations where Agip pipelines were attacked in the state. Our team heading for the Southern Ijaw location discovered that the militants laid an ambush in the area. We will soon clear the area and ascertain the extent of damage done to the pipeline”.
The Avengers claimed responsibility for the attacks on its Twitter handle.
It said: “At about 2:15am on Saturday, avengers blew up Nembe 1, 2, 3 Brass to Bonny Trunk line belonging to Agip and Shell.”
The Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC) of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, Col. Isa Ado, could not be reached to respond to enquiries on the violence.
There are fears in the state that the renewed wave of attacks on oil installation could worsen the economy of state.
Civil servants are owed salaries for several months on account of the drop in its earnings from the federation account. The government however, condemned yesterday’s attacks by the militants.
Information Commissioner, Jonathan Obuebite, in an online statement lamented the impact of the destruction of the key oil facilities on the state and wondered why the militants would disregard the economy of the state to attack pipelines.
He observed that despite the concerted efforts of the government to move against such atrocities, the militants were still unrepentant in their acts of vandalism.
Obuebite urged the group to make their grievances known to the appropriate authorities through dialogue rather than resorting to violence.
He noted that the activities of the group were adversely affecting Ijaw people whose only source of livelihood is the environment.
The Commissioner also called on security agents to be at alert and devise other means to protect very important oil and gas facilities to forestall further destructions
Obuebite also urged Bayelsa residents, especially persons residing in oil-bearing communities to be very vigilant and work closely with security agents to apprehend anyone or group attempting to undermine key national assets.
The Avengers repeated their threat which they first issued on Friday after a previous attack in Delta State that “Something Big is about to happen.”
Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light loadings after a previous attack on the Nembe creek trunk pipeline, but some exports had been continuing with delays caused by repair work.
Armed troops yesterday stormed Oporozo in Delta State in their search for Tompolo who is wanted in connection with corrupt charges.
The Nation gathered that men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Pulo Shield stormed the community at about 2:30am, arresting seven people.
They also seized some explosives, arms and ammunition.
Sources said that an earlier raid on Friday had led to the arrest of a man suspected to be one of those carrying out the attacks on oil and gas facilities in the state.
He was reportedly handed over to the Navy and was subsequently flown to Abuja for interrogation.
Several sources in the Ijaw community accused the troops of brutalizing residents including women and children.
A community source, who did not want to be named said it was an operation on ‘Tompolo’s location’, adding that he learnt arrests were made, but was not sure if the ex-militant leader, who has been in a running battle with the federal government, was one of those arrested.
“There was an attack on Tompolo’s location and arrests were made. Not specifically Oporoza, but where Tompolo is suspected to be hiding. Whether he was part of those arrested is what we don’t know”, he said.
Although, all efforts to get official military confirmation were unsuccessful, a reliable military source in Delta confirmed that seven suspects were arrested in the midnight operation, adding that recovery of explosives, arms and ammunition were also made.
“The operation is ongoing, seven already arrested, explosives they use in detonating, arms and ammunition was recovered. I won’t say the exact point where operations are happening for now, but we are around the villages to recover all the explosives, equipments used in blowing pipelines and, if possible, arrest all the culprits,” the source said.
The Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Raimi Mohammed, said he was not aware of the operation and the spokesman of the JTF, Colonel Isa Ado, did not pick call or respond to text messages sent to him.
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