Niger Delta Avengers militant group says it has blown up a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline in Oruk Anam Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State.
The group, via its Twitter account on Thursday morning said, “At 4:00am @NDAvengers blow up NNPC Pipeline in Oruk Anam Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom.”
After snubbing an invitation to dialogue with the Nigerian government, the Niger Delta Avengers militant group on Monday, made a U-turn and stated a number of conditions that it expects the Nigerian Government to meet before it would engage in any form of dialogue.
The group, through its spokesperson, wants the home countries of international oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to be involved in the peace process with independent foreign mediators.
It also says the sincerity of the Nigerian government is paramount and would be a major factor that would determine if its call for dialogue would be successful or not.
The group has also warned the government, oil companies and their services firms not to carry out any repairs works and suspend the buying of crude oil from the Niger Delta region pending the creation of “the right atmosphere that will engender genuine dialogue”.
Nigeria’s oil output has fallen to a 20-year low due to a series of attacks on oil pipelines in the southern Niger Delta, home to much of the country’s oil and gas wealth, in the last few months.