A militant group in Nigeria says it has bombed three pipelines in the south of the country in the latest attack on the country’s crucial oil industry.
The claim by the Niger Delta Avengers has not been independently confirmed.
The NDA, the latest militant group to emerge in Nigeria, is demanding that a greater share of oil wealth be spent on ending poverty in local communities.
Attacks resumed earlier this year after funding for former militants was slashed.
Nigeria is one of Africa’s biggest oil exporters and it is the country’s main export earner.
Nigeria’s government and the Dutch-British oil company Shell, which operates the pipelines, have not yet commented on the alleged attack.
The NDA said it had blown up three trunk lines carrying 300,000 barrels of oil a day to Shell’s Bonny export terminal in southern Bayelsa state.
Destruction of oil installations by successive militant organisations have severely disrupted crude production.
But an amnesty programme for former militants led to a period of relative peace until earlier this year.
Talks to resolve the conflict have been taking place in recent months, resulting in a delicate ceasefire, but those talks stalled at the beginning of November.
Since then there has been a sharp increase in attacks.
