Militants bomb Shell’s pipeline

By Luka Binniyat & Jimitota Onoyume

PORT HARCOURT — WHILE President Umaru Yar’Adua and other government officials were getting ready to announce amnesty plans for militants in the Niger Delta, the Shell pipeline in Bille/Krakrama, Rivers state was attacked by MEND, with a resultant
shutdown of the facility.

The attack has also put out of service the Shell operated Cawthorne Channels 1,2 and 3 flow stations supplying export crude to the Bonny terminal.

In a related development, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has denied paying Niger Delta militants any money to police or even protect petroleum pipelines.

A Shell spokesman who did not want his name in print said an emergency team was already in the area to minimise the likely environmental impact.

“We have received reports of an attack on an SPDC pipeline at Krakrama manifold in eastern operations. The facility has been shut down and an emergency team has been mobilized to limit the environmental impact.”

Meanwhile, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, the main militant group in the religion has claimed responsibility for the midnight attack.