Nigeria nabs two Niger Delta militants in SE city

he Nigerian government on Saturday announced that it has arrested two prominent members of a militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) in southern city of Warri in Delta State.

The suspects were apprehended last Thursday around Sapele area of the state, Commodore Joseph Dzunye of the Nigerian Navy said at a news conference.

Dzunye said the NDA members identified as Felix Miyenminiya, 53 and Stanley Jongha, 35, were the brains behind series of attacks on Chevron facilities between May and July this year.

"Besides, the hoodlums are also involved in pipeline vandalism and sea robbery," the navy chief added.

"It is worthy to note that the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies have been doing their best to curtail attacks on oil facilities as well as reducing act of criminality in the Niger Delta Area," he said.

Dzunye warned that the Nigerian Navy would not fold its hands and watch the unscrupulous elements destroying the nation's economy.

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

These attacks have had a debilitating impact on the country's petroleum industry at a time of grim economic hardship, arising from the sharp fall in international crude oil prices and a marked decline in petroleum revenues. Endit