IBADAN, Nigeria -(Dow Jones)- The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, said Sunday that it was not involved in the attack of an oil pipeline in Nigeria's southern Delta state over the weekend.
The pipeline at Okuntun, a riverside settlement in Burutu Local Government area of the state, was owned by Agip S.P.A. and was blown up by some aggrieved youths in the area.
Jomo Gbomo, spokesman of MEND, the main militant group operating in the Niger Delta, said in a statement that the movement was not involved in the attack in any way but "we still support such actions from communities that watch their wealth flow away from right under their nose without anything to show for it."
He added "MEND commends the youths behind the Agip pipeline attack which occurred in Okuntun between Odimodi and Ogulagha in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta state on Friday, January 2, 2009."
Regional army chief Brig. Gen. Wuyep Rimtip said he did not know how severe the damage to the pipeline was or if there were casualties as a result of the blast late Friday.
Officials from the pipeline's owner Agip, a subsidiary of Italian energy giant Eni SpA (E), were not available for comment.
Gbomo said MEND would partner with such youths and communities in the execution of future attacks by providing training and more powerful explosives after "the ceasefire is called off."
MEND had declared a ceasefire in September, 2008 after it launched a week of what it called "an oil war," during which some major oil and gas pipelines and facilities were destroyed in the Niger Delta.
Last week, MEND said in a statement that it was closer to an "all out oil war" following the arrest of a member of the movement, and due to the treatment of its detained leader, Henry Okah.
Okah is standing trial on charges including treason, gun running, kidnapping and oil bunkering in connection with the insurgency in the Niger Delta.
MEND and other militant groups in the Niger Delta have kidnapped more than 250 local and foreign oil workers and destroyed several oil and gas facilities in the region.
-By Obafemi Oredein, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 234 2 7510489
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Publié le 04 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones