Niger Delta Avengers Claim Responsibility for Oil Pipeline Blast in Nigeria

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) militant group on Saturday claimed responsibility for the most recent attack on the Nigerian oil industry, saying it blew up a trunk line which belongs to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company and Shell Petroleum Development Company.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The attack reportedly took place in Nigeria's southwestern province of Bayelsa, where the Niger Delta is situated.

"At About 2;15am [01:15 GMT] on Saturday the @NDAvengers blow up Nembe 1, 2 and 3 Brass to Bonny Trunk Line belonging to Agip and Shell," the NDA said on its Twitter account.

Militant groups in the Niger Delta area, such as the NDA, aim at proclaiming independence from the central Nigerian government. In order to weaken Abudja, the militants attack oil facilities in the Niger Delta region, forcing oil producers to shut down production, causing outage and decrease in Nigeria's oil output.