Nigeria rebels attack oil pipeline

news.bbc.co.uk

Rebels in the Niger delta of Nigeria say they have attacked an oil pipeline overnight, putting a two-month truce with the government in doubt.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it had attacked a pipeline owned by Shell and Chevron.

A rebel spokesman said it was because the government was delaying peace talks due to the absence of ill President Umaru Yar’Adua, who is in Saudi Arabia.

Rebel attacks cost Nigeria about $1bn (£600,000) in lost revenue monthly.

Mend said, in an e-mailed statement, that the “warning strike” was carried out by 35 men on five boats with assault rifles, rocket launchers and heavy-calibre machine guns.

It said the pipeline was in Abonemma, about 50km (30 miles) west of Port Harcourt.

Peace talks were suspended when President Yar’Adua was hospitalised in late November in Saudi Arabia. Read more…

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