Militants blow up another pipeline

Militants who have been blowing pipelines have brought unrest to the south south region
Photo: AFP

Militants in Nigeria have bombed a state-run oil pipeline near the southern port city of Warri, a community leader has said, AFP news agency reports.

Four guards based at the Trans Forcados export line narrowly escaped death after the militants opened fire on them, Batan community chairman Dickson Ogugu told AFP.

An army officer confirmed the attack, the agency reports.

Last week, the line was bombed soon after President Muhammadu Buhari met with representatives of militant groups in the Niger Delta in a bid to end the unrest in the oil-rich region.

The militants are demanding that the government spend a greater proportion of Nigeria’s oil wealth on tackling poverty and take steps to end environmental degradation caused by oil spills.

Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks on energy facilities in the south south region since the start of the year.

Another group, the Greenland Justice Mandate, which has never agreed to cease hostilities, has claimed several attacks on crude pipeline run by state oil firm NNPC since September.

Nigeria agreed in 2009 with major militant groups on a ceasefire to end a previous insurgency but previously unknown groups took up arms again after authorities tried to arrest a former militant leader on corruption charges.

Any ceasefire would be difficult to enforce as the militant scene is splintered into small groups made up of angry young unemployed men which even their leaders struggle to control.