Avengers blow up NNPC gas, oil pipelines; demand independence

Militants attacked crude oil and gas pipelines operated by Nigeria’s state oil firm in the Niger Delta, a community leader said on Friday, in an attack claimed by the Niger Delta Avengers, which has been targeting energy facilities for weeks.

“Another crude pipeline was attacked yesterday Thursday night near Batan oil field in Warri,” said Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents one of the largest ethnic groups in the vast delta in southern Nigeria.
“There were two simultaneous attacks on (state oil firm) PPMC and NNPC pipelines,” he said, referring to the marketing arm of the NNPC.
The militant group tweeted later that they had blown up a gas and crude pipeline near the town of Warri that was protected by soldiers and operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“At 11:45pm on Thursday @NDAvengers blew up other #NNPC Gas and Crude trunkline close to Warri,” the group said on its Twitter feed. It had claimed on the same platform an attack on Chevron’s main power feed in the Delta, which shut down the U.S. firm’s onshore operations, according to a company source.
 http://newtelegraphonline.com/avengers-blow-nnpc-gas-oil-pipelines-demand-independence/