Massive Oil Spill as Niger Delta Avengers Blow Up Oil Facilities Again
The criminal incident occurred at the wee hours of 12:05am on Monday without any interference by military operatives safeguarding the region.
According to reports, the fresh attack happened around Camp 3, few kilometres away from the spot where the militants had recently also attacked oil installations early this month. It took soldiers over five hours before finally confirming the attack due to the remote area of the explosion.
Findings revealed that a technical team from Pipelines and Product Marketing Company drafted to the spot could not curtail the spill as of 4.32pm, as crude was said to still be gushing out of the attacked pipeline.
Sources from the community, who confirmed the attack to a correspondent, said soldiers had a difficult time locating the attacked pipeline because of it's remoteness in the swamp of Batan. The sources said the militants shot sporadically for some minutes before detonating devices to blow up the pipeline.
A top military officer confirmed the attack when contacted by a correspondent, saying his men had a hard time identifying the spot as it was too remote for military personnel to easily access.
The Chairman of Batan Community, Dickson Ogugu, when contacted, confirmed the incident and appealed to the militants to halt their hostility on oil installations in the region especially within the Batan axis.
The militants in a press statement over the weekend threatened the Nigerian government about a massive explosion and it appears they have lived up to the threat with the magnitude of this attack.
