The ‘war’ against oil installations in the Niger Delta by emergent militants in the region appears to be relentless as militants have again blown up a gas pipeline to Escravos in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.
It was gathered that the facility, which belongs to the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was attacked with explosives.
Although, no official statement confirming the incident could be obtained from either the NGC or the security task force (JTF) in the region, a dependable security source said that the gas trunk-line was blown up at a portion near Warri metropolis near Ogbe-Ijoh, the administrative headquarters of Warri South-West Local Government Area.
It is feared that the latest attack could worsen the very bad gas production and supply situation in Nigeria with heavy toll on the energy generation capacity of the country.
Following the blowing of oil installations in parts of the state, the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has allegedly stop power supply to Delta in the last one week even as it was learnt the destruction of pipeline facilities in the state has adversely affected power supply.
It is also likely to adversely affect the country’s general oil export capability, which has fallen from 2.2mbpd to below 1.4mbpd due to the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta.
However, no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on the facility, which is part of NGC’s Phase II of the Escravos-Lagos gas pipeline though the Niger Delta Avengers militia group has said it carried out most of the recent devastating attacks on offshore oil facilities in Delta State.
The Escravos-Lagos pipeline was seriously damaged in February by militants, leading to a drop of 3,132 megawatts (MW) of electricity with operational difficulties for electricity distribution companies (discos) in the country.
Militants blew up a Valve Platform, an offshore oil facility belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, located near Escravos in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, earlier this month.
The NDA later claimed responsibility for the damage, while congratulating its ‘strike forces’ for a job well done.
In January, the same gas pipeline belonging to the NGC in Warri South-West, conveying gas from Escravos-Warri-Lagos-Abuja was blown up by one of the violent gangs.
The boys reportedly blew up the gas pipeline at three different points along Opudebubor, Okpelama and Kpokpo area, Chanomi creek and Sahara.
At press time, details of the attack was still sketchy, but an official of the Delta State government described the attack as a major blow to gas production in the country.
Spokesman of the Joint Task Force in the region, Col. Isa Ado, did not respond to enquiries, but a military source around the area confirmed the incident.
