FPSO Threatened

Some members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) have condemned the frequent attack on oil facilities in the Niger Delta by militia groups. They said these attacks have always been counter-productive for the people of the region. The group led by Timi Warilado decried the recent attack on Royal Dutch Shell’s Bonga field and its Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, located 75 miles off the Nigerian coast in the Gulf of Guinea on June 19. Warilado said the assault, which shut down the vessel’s 225,000 barrel per day production, also caused major oil spillage in some areas.

“We have, on several occasions, condemned the attacks, and some of their criminal activities. We have also said that we can no longer belong to such groups whose interest is to cause untold hardship on the people of the Niger Delta. “Our stance has made the leadership of MEND to declare some ex-members of the militia group wanted. Efe Makoli, Samuel Izera and three others may have been killed by the group when they carried out a raid on our hideout in Ogbogoro area of River State, as we do not know their whereabouts. Some alleged that they escaped,” he added. Warilado added that the irony of the matter was that even the Federal Government still sees them as hoodlums, while MEND perceives them to be traitors.

The leader alleged that the Federal Government’s earlier belief that the facility was beyond the reach of militant groups was an understatement, since members of the group can stay at sea several days with little or no food.

(This Day)