– Suspected oil militants were arrested by the Nigerian army in Niger Delta region – The militants were arraigned while attempted to bomb another oil facility – However, it seems that the suspects are not connected to the Niger Delta Avengers

Niger Delta militants
The Nigerian army has on June 17, Friday, announced
the arrest of 19 suspected oil militants in the Niger
Delta region.
The soldiers foiled an attempt to blow up a pipeline
operated by the Nigerian subsidiary of Italy’s Eni and
arrested suspected pipeline thugs and oil thieves.
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Delta Avengers condemn APC, MEND
Vanguard reports that according to the statement,
three coordinators of “several pipeline bombings” were
among those arraigned in operations conducted across
the oil-producing southern states of Bayelsa and Delta.
The statement says: “One of the arrested suspects,
John Oboka — aka Jamaica — confessed to being
part of the group that bombed the Nigerian
Petroleum Developing Company (NPDC) crude oil
pipeline at Escravos.”
However, there was no sign as to whether those
suspected militants were connected to the Niger Delta
Avengers, the high-profile group that has claimed a
series of attacks on oil and gas pilelines since February.
READ ALSO: Militants issue 14-day ultimatum to oil
companies
The Federal government has offered to negotiate with
the Avengers but the militant group has denied reports
it has met government representatives.
The attacks on the oil industry have cut production to
an estimated 1.6 million barrels per day, well below
the expected 2.2 million bpd.

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