The Shell Forcados Sub-C pipeline located in the Western Delta has been attacked by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
MEND, which earlier sabotaged the same pipeline on 1st March 2014, caused damage at about 3am on Thursday, as its scuba divers launched the attack.
Earlier in the month, Shell was forced to close its Forcados crude oil export terminal — which has the capacity to handle 400,000 barrels of crude daily, equalling more than a fifth of the country’s daily production of 2.2 billion barrels — because of an undersea pipeline leak.
“Our fighters were successful in causing further damage to the ongoing repairs on the terminal”, MEND spokesman, Gbomo Jomo said in a release. “The fighters inflicted the heaviest toll ever on the oil industry since the commencement of its ‘Hurricane Exodus’”.
MEND further claimed responsibility for the attack on the Agip crude oil and gas pipelines in Ikarama Oil Fields located in Bayelsa State, drilling holes on pipelines belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Ikarama community, Yenagoa.
The pipelines in Ikarama oil fields were said to be spewing oil from three points into the environment after the attack.
Ikarama is known as a hotbed for pipeline sabotage in the Niger Delta region with Agip raising the alarm that 90 per cent of the spills that had occurred so far in the area were the handiwork of oil thieves. Two of the compromised spots were said to be discharging crude oil while the other point was said to be spewing gas.
“At about 0300Hrs today Thursday, March 27, 2014, scuba divers from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) revisited the Shell Forcados Sub-C pipeline in the Western Delta which we had sabotaged earlier on Saturday, March 01, 2014”, Gbomo added.
“We were successful in causing further damage to the ongoing repair works, inflicting the heaviest toll ever on the oil industry since the commencement of ‘Hurricane Exodus’.
“The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) also takes responsibility for the Thursday, March 20, 2014 attack on the Agip crude oil and gas pipelines in Ikarama Oil Fields located in Bayelsa State”.
