Breaking: Niger Delta militants strike again, say day of reckoning is close

– Niger Delta militants attacked another crude oil pipeline in Delta state

– The group defined as “waste of resources” the use of the soldiers to guard oil and facilities in the region

– The militants said the day of reckoning close and threatened to launch more attacks

File photo of militants in Nigeria.

One of the militant groups, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, has blown up another key crude oil delivery line belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) in Delta state.

The Vanguard reports that the attack happened on September 18 at about 11:30 pm near Ekuigbo, Ughelli North local government area of the state.

Aldo Agbalaja, the spokesperson of the group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released on September 19, Monday.

It reads: “The Opudo strike force, at about 11:30 pm on Sunday, September 18, 2016, struck the Afiesere – Ekiugbo delivery line in Ughelli, operated by NPDC/Shoreline.

“The Operation Crocodile Tears is not slowing down, but determined to achieve target. Until the federal government takes the proper steps, this song will continue to play.

“This is to once again emphasize our earlier revelation that the so-called Operation Crocodile Smile is nothing but a scam: some jumbled job, sewn together to retire some recently embezzled military budget.

“Were it a serious endeavor, as the entire military system has sought to bamboozle Nigerians and the entire world to believe, the half-baked operation would have at least been reaping marginal results, besides those wrong arrests, lacking in intelligence that it had realized.”

“This is to you, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, let you crocodile continue to smile, your time of reckoning is at hand, probably by the time the smiling crocodile finally sinks, you will see its tears and blood.

“Under your nose, the very task of guarding oil assets (which we consider a waste of time, resources and a failure of priorities) will fail because you are both insincere and incompetent.”