20101219
Independent (Lagos)


Lagos — Chevron on Monday shut down its Dibi-Abiteye pipeline after it and two others were bombed by the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) headed by John Togo, the man who has been causing havoc in the Deep South for months - and eluding capture.

Troops had launched an onslaught on Togo before the group attacked the facility.

The NDLF claimed responsibility for the bombing of three flow stations owned by Chevron and Agip.

On Monday, Chevron confirmed that there was a breach on its Dibi-Abiteye pipeline on December 17, and that it had suspended production "to minimise environmental impact and have informed relevant government agencies and other stakeholders.

"The breach is being investigated and we are reviewing our operations," the company said in a statement, which did not provide figures on the production cut back.

On the bright side, however, Exxon Mobil said on Monday that it had resumed production in the Oso field, more than a month after its gas and condensate platform was attacked by militants.

"We have restarted 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate from the Oso field," spokesman Ozemoya Okordion said in an e- mail response to questions.

"No firm time for restart of natural gas liquids production is available at this time."

Production of about 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day was shut at the platform as a "precaution" after eight workers were kidnapped, Exxon Mobil disclosed on November 16, an operation the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it carried out.

News broke on December 5 of disagreement between Ayakoromor villagers in Delta State and the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the number of casualties inflicted by troops in their attempt to arrest Togo.

The raid came after an unknown number of soldiers died some days ago.

Troops who bombarded militants' hide-outs were alleged to have killed about 150 civilians and destroyed homes, a human rights lawyer, Preye Onduku, said after he visited the scene.

The Commander of the military operations said soldiers opened fire when someone shot at them as they neared Ayakoromor's shoreline at the start of the raid last on December 1.

The attacks from an insurgency that began in 2006 cut drastically into crude production in Nigeria, the world's eight largest oil exporter.

Production has risen back to 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), in part because many militant leaders and fighters accepted Abuja's amnesty deal in October last year.

However, Henry Okah, former MEND leader, warned from his prison cell in Johannesburg on December 6 that the insurgency in the Niger Delta will continue until the region controls its oil wealth.

Okah, who faces terrorism charges in South Africa over the bombings in Abuja on October 1, called on "thousands of people who are willing to continue to fight.

"I'm encouraging the people of the Niger Delta to fight for their land.

"There are thousands of people who are willing to fight and they'll continue to fight."

On the raid on Ayakoromor, he said the military is "only carrying out punitive actions against communities. The Nigerian Army should be prepared to fight forever unless the real issues in the delta are addressed."

Military sources said no fewer than 13 soldiers were killed when they ran into an ambush set up by Togo's fighters, but independent investigation showed that at least 25 persons were confirmed dead and seven wounded and hospitalised in Warri.

The Labour Party (LP) rejected the "high-handedness" of the JTF in the Niger Delta, especially in Ayakomoror.

Its Spokesman Ikpe Etukudo noted that the source of violence is the exploitation of oil at the expense of the people's source of living.

Human Rights Writers' Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) also criticised the JTF for alleged excessive use of force in seeking to dislodge Togo.

HURIWA condemned armed insurrection in the Niger Delta and urged all militants to embrace the amnesty programme, but stated that the JTF must exercise the highest degree of professionalism and should have minimised the damage in Ayakoromor.

However, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Onyeabo Ihejirika, declared on December 8 that troops will continue their onslaught against insurgency in the Niger Delta, regardless of the outcry over the loss of civilian lives in the recent raids.

And the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 82 Division of the Army, Major General Sarkin Bello, pledged that Togo will soon be apprehended.

Ihejirika said the Army, rather than being deterred, would crush the militants until they are all flushed out.

He blamed them for any loss of civilian life during the fight, accusing them of using civilians as human shield, which is a war crime.

He admitted that there were some civilian deaths but refused to classify them as a massacre.