Fresh trouble in South South: Militants blow up Agip oil facility
…threaten stiffer attacks if demands are not met
By Moses Adeniyi & Barth Ndubuwah
Fresh trouble has resumed in South South following attack by militants on oil facility of Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) located at Ogba-Egbema-Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State
This action signals resurgence of militancy aggression in the region.
The new militant group in the Niger Delta region under the aegis of Bayan-Men which blew up the oil well, OB5, (Obiavu-5) claimed their action was triggered by an alleged failure of NAOC to deal directly with their host communities.
Owning the attack on the facility which as at Sunday still have the inferno razing on the facility after a few days, the General of the Bayan-Men in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, on Sunday said their aggression was borne by a refusal of the oil firm to allow the natives to benefit from their operation in the area.
Alleging that the firm was given to divide and rule tactics, the group demanded that the oil firm deal directly with the 27 communities of Omoku, according to the Federal Government resolution, threatening that a failure would attract stiffer aggression on the firm’s facilities.
He was quoted: “The only thing we want Agip to do is to deal directly with the 27 communities of Omoku, according to the Federal Government resolution.
“We don’t want Agip to be negotiating with anybody. They should deal with the communities. If they continue like this, what we have done now is small to what we will do if they continue.
“They should not keep us together and treat us like one. They should treat communities individually.
“We are not joking. We are not interested in killing anybody. Our interest is that they must do the right thing else we will keep blowing up their facilities. We are giving them 24 hours to start the process of doing the right thing.”
In a reaction obtained, the Coordinator-General of Omoku Community Youth Leaders Forum, OCYLF, Comrade Ekeuku Pureheart, who confirmed the ugly development called on the Federal Government and its relevant Agencies to intervene swiftly before the situation degenerates into uncontrollable circumstances.
He was quoted to have said: “Federal Government intervened a long time ago. Now some uncontrollable boys and some militia groups have blown up Agip oil well, OB5. Obiavu-5 is the name of the oil well.
“The boys are still threatening that if Agip does not engage directly with the communities of Omoku and give them what is due them that they will do more.
“We are calling on the Federal Government and other relevant agencies to intervene before things get out of hand. This may cause a drop in production. The government does not need any situation that will result in to further drop in production to occur.
“The group is saying enough is enough. Agip is working with few individuals in Omoku to oppress the people and the boys are saying they will no longer take that.
“The group is saying that Agip should deal with individual communities, that is what the law provides. Omoku is a cluster of communities. And the law says when you reach any land treat them differently and give them what is due them.
“They should adhere to FG resolution of February 27th, 2021, and that agreement must be implemented in line with the Petroleum Industry Act. We are urging the FG to stop up to ensure that the agreement is implemented in full.”
As at the time of filing this report, effort of our correspondent to get police reaction was unfruitful as the Police Command in the State could not confirm the details of the incident.
Panic in the affected area has taken course of impacts following the resurfacing of the attack and threat to intensify same if their demands are not met.
It would be recalled that threats of re turn to aggression by militants have recently greeted the South-south – a development that has attracted the attention of the Federal Government.
In June, a group of militants known to be responsible for aggressive attacks on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure — the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) — had vowed to resume bombing of oil installations across the Niger-Delta region to protest what it described as the government’s neglect of the region.
In a statement published on its website on June 26, the group had said “This operation shall be coded ‘Operation Humble’ aimed at bringing down targeted oil installations in the Niger Delta capable of humbling the economy into permanent recession.”
In a reactionary statement on June 27, President Muhammadu Buhari had said: “In addressing your call for immediate restructuring, the National Assembly whose responsibility it is to ensure that our constitution responds to the call for a restructured Nigeria, has already concluded regional consultations and as soon as they finalise the process, necessary action would not be delayed on my part.”
Calculated attacks of the group on many oil fields and terminals in 2016 were recorded to have hit hard on oil production in the Country, pushing down the profile to as low as 1.4million-1.5 million barrel per day.
In a April, no less than nine militant groups in the Niger Delta, under the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA), had threatened to shun the ceasefire agreement with the Federal Government and resume armed agitation over an allegation of diversion of oil money by their State governors.
Alleging that President Buhari has ignored their demand to stop the payment of 13 percent oil derivation fund to State governors in the region, the group had threatened the face off would lead to bloodshed and crumbling the nation’s oil economy.
