Niger Delta Avengers Claim Attack On Chevron Facility

The new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers are claiming to have attacked a Chevron Oil facility in the Niger Delta region.

The group in a tweet said that it has blown up the Escravos Tank Farm main electricity feed pipeline.

There has been no confirmation from Chevron yet, but the spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, Mr. Eric Omare stated that the attack took place.

This alleged attack is coming after a two- week ultimatum given to owners of oil blocs in the region by the group to evacuate their staff and shut down operations which ended today.

The group, which has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks on major installations in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, has come under intense scrutiny of the Nigerian military and efforts are being made to put their activities to check.

It is still unclear if the military has captured any member of the group but there are indications that the military is moving closer to unravelling the details of the militants’ activities and how to curb them.

The military, in its recent security search with intermittent raids on the area, has shown seriousness in halting the attacks of the vandals and militant group.

There are reports that attacks by the militants have caused huge damages to infrastructure, causing Nigeria’s output in the energy and oil sector to go to its lowest in several years.

The activities of the militant group have also forced Shell’s Forcados terminal to shut, including the offshore Chevron facility in the Escravos system with other companies also forced to declare force majeure -a suspension of deliveries because of events beyond its control.