16 November 2016, Owerri – Nigeria’s crude oil export has suffered a major setback as the reopened Forcados Crude Export line operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State has been blown up by suspected militants.
Although no militant group in the Niger Delta region has claimed responsibility for the attack, security sources told our correspondent on Tuesday that militants were behind the destruction of the line which has just been reopened.
A senior military source who spoke under the strict condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said Shell technical team deployed to curtail the spread of the spill battled for two days in the high seas to stop further spread.
However, some community sources who spoke with our correspondent said the breach on the line was not as a result of militants’ attack.
The sources who claimed to have accompanied Shell team to visit the site of the spill said the export line ruptured due to old age, noting that it was the second section of the reopened line which early this year was attacked by members of the Niger Delta Avengers.
- Punch
