Pipeline bombings: FG deploys team to unmask N’Delta Avengers

The Federal Government has set machinery in motion to uncover those behind the recent bombings of oil installations in the Niger Delta apart from the express directive to the military to halt the return of militancy in the region.

As part of the efforts in security and government circles to identify the masterminds of the attacks on the oil facilities, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd.), has dispatched a team of investigators to the Niger Delta.

A new militant group in the oil-rich region, the Niger Delta Avengers, has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks on the SPDC platform at Forcados, the Chevron Okan platform at Abiteye in Escravos, and the pipelines transporting crude oil to the Warri and the Kaduna refineries.

The Chief Security Officer to the Amnesty Office, Lt. Col. Olusegun Okungbure, told our correspondent on the telephone on Sunday that the office was working with security agencies in the area of sharing information and intelligence on how to curb the sabotage of oil platforms in the region.

Okungbure stated that a meeting had also been scheduled between officials of the Delta State Government and stakeholders in the area on how to bring the attacks to an end.

He stated, “The Special Adviser has sent people to the region to see if we can identify the perpetrators of this act.

“Secondly, he has also condemned the attacks on all these oil platforms.  He has also interfaced with the security agencies for the protection of the pipelines and security in the general area.

“Even as we speak now, we just finished a form of telephone conversation with the JTF Commander, who just returned from Delta State.  These are some of the things we are doing.”

Okungbure added that the office had asked the ex-militants, captured under the Amnesty Programne, to assist in fishing out those behind the current attacks on the oil facilities.

He said the current attacks constituted a threat to the reputation of the 30,000 youths captured in the programme.

“We have even tasked the ex-agitators, the ones captured in the programme, that they should be able to fish out these people because their own reputation of embracing peace and accepting amnesty is being threatened by this kind of attacks.

‘‘I think everyone is well aware of the implications,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters has warned that the military would not tolerate acts that constitute a threat to the nation’s existence.

The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said in a statement on Sunday that the military would not condone acts that could cause a breakdown of law and order in the society.

He urged individuals or groups “seeking relevance” to embrace the stipulations of the law and to avoid brigandage.

Abubukar added, “The Defence Headquarters hereby warns that it will not condone any unwholesome acts by persons or group seeking to engage in acts that are capable of causing a breakdown of law and order in any part of the country.

“Citizens are advised to refrain from taking the laws into their hands and avoid actions that may cause a breach to harmonious co-existence.

“The DHQ also wishes to advise the general public to ignore inciting pictures, videos and statements posted on some social media platforms which are now confirmed to be the creation of Photoshop, with the intention of causing disharmony and divisions among different nationalities.”

He assured the citizenry of the determination of the military and the security agencies to sustain the tempo of operations against terrorists, oil thieves, cattle rustlers and other acts of criminality in the society.

The Defence spokesman advised law-abiding citizens to report  suspicious persons and objects to the security operatives for immediate action.Senate.