Militants Bomb Delta State Oil Pipeline

An Urhobo militant group, Urhobo Gbagbako, on
Friday claimed responsibility for Thursday night’s
bombing of the NPDC Oil pipelines at Ighrenene,
Afiesere and Ekiugbo communities in Delta State.
The group, which made the claims in an email sent
to some reporters, said it is also planning to shut
down all the oil fields in Urhobo and Isoko areas.
The email signed by the group’s s spokesperson,
Priest Omodjuvwu, said the bombing of the
Ekiugbo/Ighrenene/Afiesere was to draw attention
to the neglect of ex-militants of Urhobo extraction.
It said the Urhobo had been sidelined in the
pipelines protection contracts offered to ex-
militants from other ethnic groups and they now
want to show that they too had the capacity to
cause trouble if ignored.
The group said it had sent warning signals to the
NPDC and the federal government on the pipeline
surveillance contracts, which had excluded the
Urhobo.
Urhobo Gbagbako however dissociated itself from
media reports about a 14-day ultimatum given to
the federal government and NPDC on the oil
pipeline surveillance contracts.
“We have now resumed attack on the NPDC
pipeline facilities on a massive scale, which scale
of bombings shall be unprecedented,” the email
said.
The group said the attacks will continue until the
Urhobo got what rightly belonged to them.
It explained that Urhobo Gbagbako Group is a
militia group of all ex-militants, youths, women
and elders of Urhobo origin.