Avengers: Air Force helicopter destroys oil storage in Niger Delta

Air Force bombs illegal oil storage facilities.

A Nigerian Air Force helicopter, EC-135, has destroyed suspected illegal oil barges and storage facilities at Adokiakiri community in the Niger Delta, as the ceasefire declared by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) entered the fifth day.

The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, said on Tuesday that the stolen oil storage facilities were sighted and destroyed in the community during an armed reconnaissance on Sunday.

He said that the Air Force will ensure that oil theft in the region is unprofitable.

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Adesanya said, “The air force has destroyed some oil barges, containing stolen oil products at Adokiakiri community in the Niger Delta. The illegal oil barges and storage facilities were spotted by the NAF EC-135 helicopter during an armed reconnaissance mission. They were all subsequently destroyed. The NAF remains resolute in making oil theft and illegal bunkering unprofitable.”

Naija News gathered that the NDA had on Friday announced an immediate end to its ceasefire with the Federal Government.

Punch reports that the group also accused the government of being insincere despite the commitment by the leaders of the region to broker peace.

The NDA spokesman, Murdoch Agbinibo, alleged that the Federal Government was only interested in the crude oil in the region.

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Meanwhile, the immediate past governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Tuesday appealed to the NDA to discard its recent threat to resume attacks on oil installations in the region.

Uduaghan said, “I am appealing for caution in the handling of the renewed threat by the Niger Delta Avengers. I am appealing to the Niger Delta Avengers to drop the threat, and also the Federal Government to continue on the path of engagement.

“The issues raised from the various peace movements by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on behalf of the Federal Government that brought some calm should be seriously addressed. We must all support the Acting Governor, Kingsley Otuaro, who has been managing the renewed threat.”