Gunmen blow up gas pipeline in southern Nigeria

A new militant group on Thursday claimed responsibility for another attack on a gas pipeline belonging to Chevron in southern oil rich Delta state.

The Niger Delta Avenger (NDA) group, which has been terrorizing the region for some weeks, announced the attack on the Escravos tank farm near the main electricity feed pipeline through which power is supplied to the oil facility.

The oil facilities were sabotaged following attempts by Chevron to carry out repairs of main Escravos crude oil pipeline it blew up earlier, the group said.

There was no immediate confirmation from local authority of the attack from Chevron.

The Avengers, who said they are fighting for a greater share of oil profits, an end to pollution and independence for the southern region, had told oil firms to leave the Delta before the end of the month.

The Nigerian government has responded by moving in troops reinforcements, but British Foreign Minister, Philip Hammond, said this month President Muhammadu Buhari needed to deal with the root causes of the conflict.

The new group has launched a violent campaign of vandalizing pipelines and blowing up critical oil facilities in parts of the oil-rich region.

The NDA has claimed responsibility for the destruction of oil facilities in the region. Endit