Gunmen suspected to be Niger Delta militants have blown up oil facilities at Owhrode community, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State.
The scene of the incident is about 20 kilometres from the venue of the one-day stakeholders’ meeting of the six coastal states of the Niger Delta, which was convened to proffer solutions to the ongoing militancy in the region.
The meeting, being held at the PTI, was convened at the instance of Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark; and it has in attendance Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, traditional rulers and leaders of the various ethnic nationalities in the region.
Clark said the meeting would discuss the recent activities of militant groups and proffer solutions to the challenge.
As at the time of filing this report, only Governor Okowa (Delta) is present, while others, including Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Ben Ayade (Cross River) and Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) were still being expected.
The stakeholders are expected to issue a joint communiqué at the end of deliberations.
Local community sources confirmed the development, saying about two pipelines operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company were affected in the incident which occurred at about 2am.
A new militant group, Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, sources said, was behind the attack.
A technical team of NPDC and security officials have been deployed to the area to prevent the spread of crude to other communities.
