The militant group also bombed a trunk pipeline at Brass in Bayelsa State. The pipeline belongs to Italy’s Eni SpA, ENI, which lost “around 4,000” barrels per day of “equity production” from the incident, the Rome-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday confirming the attack.
The pipeline carries crude to an export terminal in the coastal town of Brass, about 250 kilometres south west of the oil-industry hub of Port Harcourt.
In a veiled reference to the tribulation of its assumed leader, Henry Okah and the postponement of his trial by a South-African court, the militant group said the South African President had reduced himself to a mercenary of President Goodluck Jonathan.
However, the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta has dismissed the threat, saying the warning came from disgruntled militants who want to benefit from expired amnesty.
Henry Okah, a suspected MEND leader, faces trial in South Africa on terrorism charges related to car bombings on Oct. 1, 2010, that killed 12 people in Abuja for which MEND claimed responsibility.
SA govt, MTN react
However, South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation said it would investigate the threat against the country’s investments in Nigeria. “It’s a matter we will look into definitely; terrorism has to be rooted out,” Clayson Monyela, spokesman for the ministry said on telephone yesterday. “The authorities in Nigeria have always been responsive to acts that are unlawful and will deal with this as they always have dealt with such threats.”
MTN is leaving security matters to the Nigerian and South African authorities and has no further comment, Rich Mkhondo, a spokesman for the Johannesburg-based company, said in a response through e-mail yesterday.
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