Nigeria: Federal Govt. In Fresh Dilemma Over Avengers Pipeline Bombings :

The Federal Government is in a dilemma over how to persuade the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, to halt further attacks on oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta region, while it fine-tunes the process for the proposed dialogue with stakeholders.

Meanwhile, Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Thursday, ordered an emergency Security Council meeting, at Otu-Jeremi, headquarters of Ughelli South Local Government Area, following threats by a new militant group, Utorogu Liberation Movement, ULM, to blow up the strategic Utorogu Gas Plant and other assets under Oil Mining Lease, OML, 34.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that oil companies had complained that it was difficult for them to continue operations in the face of continuous bombings of their repaired pipelines by militants, who had ordered the oil companies not to carry out repairs on any blown pipeline until government addressed their demands.

An industry source told Saturday Vanguard that, “It is risky to ignore the threats by the militants, as they have matched their words with action, blowing up pipelines repaired by oil companies despite the presence of soldiers.

That is the reason why many of the oil companies feel that it is a waste of resources to spend billions of naira to repair damaged pipelines, only for them to be breached.
I think the best thing is to sort out this matter with the perpetrators so that it will not degenerate to loss of lives and kidnapping,” he added.

Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, did not disclose his predicament, but Saturday Vanguard gathered that one of the challenges he was battling to surmount was getting the militants to accept that they would no longer blow up pipelines after repairs by the oil companies.

One of the stakeholders, who attended the closed-door meeting with the Minister at Asaba on Wednesday, said: “The minister was eager to ensure that Niger Delta Avengers allow the oil companies to repair the damaged pipelines and begged us to talk to them, as if we (leaders) are part of the militants.
“Well, we saw his predicament and it was in the communique that the militant groups should allow the oil companies to effect repairs of damaged oil and gas facilities because that is the major problem at the moment,” he said.

In accepting to take part in the dialogue by government, five days ago, Niger Delta Avengers said, they would not allow repair works on damaged pipelines during the negotiations for dialogue.

Its spokesperson, Col Mudoch Agbinibo, warned: “We are going to redirect and reactivate all our activities if the government, oil companies and their service firms refuse to abide by our modest warnings not to carry out any repair works and suspend the sale of crude oil from our region as we await the right atmosphere that will engender genuine dialogue”. Agbinibo had stated:

The high command of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is using this medium to restate that there are no new items to put on the table for dialogue, we only want a genuine attitude and conducive atmosphere that will make us commit ourselves to any peace talk”.