Lately, Nigerians have started heaving sighs of relief with signs of apparent capitulation from the camp of the blighted Boko Haram insurgents. But another group of Frankenstein monsters called the Niger Delta Avengers has crept in from the creeks. The militants have been blowing up critical oil installations and petroleum product pipelines in the oil producing areas. Assistant Editor, GBADE OGUNWALE, reports that the violent uprising may pose fresh challenges to the already overstretched capabilities of the Nigerian Armed Forces, even as the nation continues to feel pangs of the multiple aftereffects.
Hobbled by a six-year counter-insurgency operations against the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, the country’s armed forces are again confronted by yet another armed insurrection in the oil rich Niger Delta region. The ongoing attacks on oil installations and petroleum product pipelines by the Niger Delta Avengers in the nation’s oil rich enclave are already taking a heavy toll on the nation’s economy. Worst affected are revenue from oil earnings, investments and purity of the environment.
A number of multi billion-dollar installations and facilities belonging to multinational oil companies operating largely in the Niger Delta are being targeted by the militants in the last two weeks. Agip oil, Shell and Chevron have had their facilities blown up by the rampaging militants within this short period. Commenting on the devastation brought about by recent attacks, Shell’s Country chair in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, lamented the significant decline in production levels. “These illegal acts also have severe environmental consequences. In addition, security threats mean both our development and operating costs are higher than in many other operating environments globally.
“Ultimately, it means that available funds for the industry don’t stretch as far as they would, if we had a safer operating environment. It is clear that security of our assets and people is key to our operations and the federal government has rightly said it will work to ensure a safe and secure working environment for everyone, not just international oil companies,” Okunbor added.
The oil chief said Shell lost about 25, 000 barrels of crude oil per day to oil theft in 2015, with 37,000 barrels per day similarly lost in 2014. According to him, the number of sabotage-related spills declined to 93 incidents compared with 139 in 2014, adding that decrease in theft and spill recorded in 2015 was partly due the company’s divestments in the Niger Delta. Okunbor observed that oil theft and sabotage were still the cause of about 85 per cent of spills from Shell’s pipelines in the region.
It is said that crude oil output by OPEC member countries reduced by 120, 000 barrels per day in May, owing partly to the destructive activities of the militants. The latest attacks on Chevron facilities were also carried out during the week, with RMP23 and RMP24, operated company at the Opia/Ikia axis of the Dibi/ Olero oil fields in Egbema Kingdom of Warri North council area mortally destroyed.
Claiming responsibility for the attacks, the militant group, in a tweet shortly after the dastardly act, went bragging about its exploits and mocking the deployment of military equipment and personnel.
The tweet read: “With the heavy presence of 100 gunboats, four warships and jet bombers, NDA blew up Chevron oil well RMP23 and RMP24 at 3:44 am this morning. This is to show the whole world that Nigerian military is good in harassing innocent civilians. RMP23 and RMP24 are Chevron’s swamp highest producing wells.”
A similar attack by the militants at Efe-Ugbokodo area in Warri South Local Government area of Delta State on Wednesday was targeted at military personnel. At least two soldiers were reported killed in an unprovoked attack by the militants on a military houseboat which the soldiers were deployed to guard. Details of the actual casualty figures were still being awaited from the military authorities.
The Federal Government has responded to the onslaught with military might. President had repeatedly vowed to give the militants the Boko Haram treatment. Armed forces personnel and equipment have been deployed in the region, with the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai ruling out negotiations with the militants. Rebuffing calls in certain quarters for dialogue with the group, Buratai vowed that the militants would be smoked out of hiding with military force.
He said: “I quite agree that dialogue is very important. But where it is not too obvious that the adversary is ready to come out and talk, you can also force such a person. I think that is what the Nigerian Army is trying to do.
“Yes, we don’t know the group’s leaders for now. That is the only option. Possibly, we have to bring the people out to know who you can dialogue with.”
According to him, the activities of the militants in the last few days have forced the nation’s oil production from 2.2 million barrels down to 1.1 million barrels per day. But industry watchers are quick to point out that the actual production has gone down to about 900, 000 barrels per day.
And in the light of other military operations at hand, the military appears to be over-stretching its capabilities. The ongoing secessionist agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and incessant bloody attacks on agrarian communities by rampaging cattle grazing irredentists have conspired to task the military to the limits. For instance, the army is presently executing three operations: Lafiya Dole against the Boko Haram; Operation Sharandaj, against nomadic cattle rustlers and now Operation Pulo Shield against the Niger Delta Avengers.
The Army Chief admitted that the military and other security agencies are already overwhelmed by the series of armed conflicts in many states across the federation. He observed that the Armed Forces, which ordinarily are supposed to be the last line of defence, are now engaged as the first line of defence. In an apparent bid to enlist the support or co-opt the pro-Biafra agitators in their destructive enterprise, the Niger Delta Avengers have thrown their weight behind the secessionist group. The militants have demanded the release of bodies of pro-Biafra agitators that were killed during demonstration in parts of the South East during the week. They have also added security personnel to their list of targets and have vowed to go after military men in sight on sea and on land.
Going by one of their threat messages, the militants said they would be carrying out attacks across the six states in the South-South geo-political zone. “It is now war between the militants and security men. Since innocent and helpless citizens, especially from the South-South and South-East have been marked for extinction, we will defend our people,” one of them was quoted as saying.
As controversy continued to trail the deployment of the military to quell the armed insurrection, a group of elders in the Niger Delta has backed the action. The elders, under the aegis of the Concerned Niger Delta Leaders (CNDL) at a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, flayed the destructive actions of the militants. According to them, the militants were sabotaging sincere efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari’s to bring speedy growth and development to the region.
In an address read by the coordinator of the group, Chief Mike Loyibo, it accused the militants of criminality against the Nigerian state and humanity in general. Loyibo said: “We have for some time now watched with utmost dismay the manner in which the Niger Delta Avengers, a group with an aimless agenda, has been destroying our common heritage and the economic mainstay of the country through vandalisation of critical government infrastructure and oil installations. To us, the agenda of these people still remain unclear.
“At best, their actions are clear acts of sabotage and criminality, both against the state and humanity. It is also a direct threat to the collective existence of us all. The activities of the Niger Delta Avengers also threaten the non-negotiable unity of Nigeria to its very foundation and this must be roundly condemned by all well-meaning stakeholders.”
