Militants claim attack on Shell-operated pipeline in restive Niger Delta; Shell denies attack
By APSunday, February 7, 2010
Nigerian militants claim attack on Shell pipeline
LAGOS, Nigeria — A Nigerian militant group claims to have attacked an oil pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell PLC in the Niger Delta but oil company officials could not confirm the attack.
The Joint Revolutionary Council says on Sunday it attacked a pipeline operated by Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary in Rivers state. That pipeline takes oil from several flow stations and feeds into Shell’s export terminal at Bonny.
Shell spokesman Tony Okonedo said he was not aware of an attack.
The claim comes after Shell says saboteurs ruptured one its pipelines in Bayelsa State while trying to steal crude oil. Violence in the Delta calmed in recent months with the promise of a government amnesty deal, but some worry the absence of ill President Umaru Yar’Adua has stalled the peace effort.
