President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a crackdown on militants who destroy pipelines.

Security is being reinforced around oil and gas pipeline installations in the southern Delta region of Nigeria following instructions from President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Buhari on Friday, May 20 directed the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Eke Ekwe Ibas to deal ruthlessly with the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA and other militant groups responsible for the incessant explosion of oil pipelines and gas installations in the coastal region.

 He gave the instructions in his office at Abuja following a meeting with the Global Director (Upstream) of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, Andrew Brown who appealed to the President to find urgent solutions to rising crime and militancy in the Niger Delta.  As an immediate follow up to the appeal, Mr Buhari instructed the Naval Chief to reorganise and strengthen the military Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta for the assignment, assuring the oil companies operating in the Niger Delta of Federal Government protection.

Urgent action is indeed required as just last weekend there was a resurgence of attacks on oil and gas pipelines in the region. Vanguard  newspaper reported  that suspected militants bombed the Escravos Gas Pipeline, a facility of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in Delta State . Fresh explosions were also reported on May 21 near a military houseboat around Ogbe-Ijoh, headquarters of Warri South-West local government area. This concerned the installations of Chevron Nigeria Limited.

Another incident of sabotage on oil installations occurred in the Ikeinghenbiri community in Bayelsa State where rival armed groups are fighting for the control of the oilfield operated by Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary Agip Oil Company (NAOC). A resident of the area, Joseph Ebidimo said the rival armed groups are struggling for control of the Ogboinbiri-Tebidaba crude trunk line which passes through the area.

Local media organs quoted  Mr Ebidimo  as saying that, “We understand it is a conflict between two armed groups for the access to the crude pipeline, one group claims to be working to safeguard the pipeline and said the other group are vandals; they have been shooting. The sound of the gunfire is scary, and there is no sign of the Joint Task Force soldiers who are supposed to be patrolling the area, we have not seen any soldier.”