"Our goal remains the destruction of the Nigerian oil industry and all who stand on the pathway to our objective."
Nigerian militants claim 14 soldiers killed in attack"
Is that what you were talking about?
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LAGOS (MarketWatch) -- Fourteen Nigerian troops were killed in an attack Monday by Niger Delta militants, a faction of the militant said late Tuesday, disputing the military's account that five soldiers had been killed.
Jomo Gbomo, spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, said in an e-mail that the militant group had sent its fighters into Rivers state, where Monday's attack took place, to prepare for expected reprisals by government troops.
"These fighters will remain in the vicinity of Rivers state until the perceived threat to Ijaw communities in Rivers state ceases to exist," he said. Gbomo is a nom de guerre - his real name is unknown. His past warnings about MEND attacks and kidnappings of foreign oil workers, as told to the media, have proven correct. In addition, his previous accounts of MEND's activities have strengthened his claim to being part of the group's inner circle.
The Nigerian Army said Monday that five soldiers were killed in the attack, while nine were declared missing.
The soldiers involved in Monday's attack were escorting a convoy transporting diesel and other materials to a site belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA). In the incident, 25 oil workers were also abducted, though nine were released Tuesday, Royal Dutch Shell said. Gbomo's e-mail statement on Tuesday didn't mention the abducted workers.
Gbomo warned oil companies against relying on Nigerian authorities for security and vowed the militants were determined to stop the flow of oil from Nigerian wells.
"Our goal remains the destruction of the Nigerian oil industry and all who stand on the pathway to our objective," he said.
Attacks by the militants, as well as sabotage on pipelines, have cut Nigeria's crude oil production by 872,000 barrels a day.
Nigeria's two oil unions haven't yet commented on the latest attack on oil-industry personnel. The unions staged a brief warning strike last month to protest the lack of security in the Niger Delta. |
