Militant group claims responsibility for Delta pipeline explosion

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.