Hours after militants said they would detonate bombs without prior notice, multiple explosions have rocked an oil facility in Bayelsa State.
In Port Harcourt yesterday, a bomb scare grounded a Lagos-bound Arik Air flight, which was due to depart at about 8.00am.
The explosions occurred Tuesday night at Well Head 3 Flow Station at Cloak Creek Area in Ekeremo Local Government Area of the state, which belongs to Agip Oil.
The extent of the damage to the facility could not be ascertained last night. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which threatened to bomb the Niger Delta – Nigeria’s oil region, Abuja – the seat of the government and Lagos – this country’s business and commercial engine-room, claimed responsiblity for the explosion.
MEND vowed further strikes on oil infrastructure in the coming days.
"This attack and similar attacks on pipelines and flow stations which will take place in the coming days are a reminder to the Nigerian government and general public not to take our threats for granted," the militant group said in a statement emailed to media.
But the Joint Task Force (JTF), the special security outfit for the oil region, described the incident as "an isolated case, not connected to the MEND threat". It promised to investigate it.
JTF spokesman Lt.-Col. Timothy Antigha said: "The incident is not connected with the warnings from MEND. It is an isolated case and we are trying to get details.’’
He confirmed that the explosion occurred at 11pm on Tuesday. There were no casualties, he said.
Agip officials declined comments on the explosions, which may have reduced the company’s oil production.
In the Port Harcourt incident, Nollywood actress Hilda Dokubo, who was a passenger, got a text message on her mobile telephone that the aircraft would be bombed. She showed the text to the airline’s officials, who aborted the flight and evacuated the passengers.
The airline sent another plane from Lagos, which flew the passengers out around 12.10 pm.
Dokubo was taken to the airport authority’s custody where she was questioned
Arik Air Managing Director Mr Chris Ndulue said the airline directed that passengers should disembark to allow security agencies, including the Police Anti bomb Squad and the State Security Service (SSS), to scan the aircraft.
"We also sent our security personnel with mobile trace detectors," Ndulue told reporters in Lagos.
On whether the bomb threat was linked to MEND, Ndulue said he had no idea, adding that it was for the security agencies to determine.
He said: "For us, may be it disrupted operation, a little loss of revenue, but I think it is better to exercise some caution because a bomb scare is something to be taken seriously. But it’s beginning to happen everywhere now and we just need to exercise caution and vigilance."
Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) spokesman Victor Arisa said Dokubo "is helping security agents with information because she is the one who alerted the Captain of the aircraft that a bomb was planted in the aircraft".
It was gathered that Dokubo, who was inside the aircraft, suddenly got up at about 7.50am, barely 10 minutes to take-off, and told the officials that she got information that a bomb was planted on the aircraft. The crew asked all the 98 passengers to disembark.
Arisa said FAAN informed Police Commissioner Mr. Suleman Abbah, who sent a Bomb Disposal Unit to check the aircraft, "but nothing was found".
Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs Mr. Kinsley Kuku said the government would engage MEND in a bid to find a lasting solution to the Niger Delta crisis.
Kuku spoke at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos where he saw off some programme beneficiaries of the amnesty going to Russia for studies.
Seventy-five Niger Delta former militants travelled out for undergraduate degree programmes at the People’s Friendship University, Moscow.
The ex-militants are to undergo degree courses in agronomy, engineering, international law, medicine, and other related courses that will fill the gap of some expatriate quotas in the oil and gas sector.
Also at the airport to see off the ex-militants, who travelled aboard an Emirates Airline flight around 2.50pm, was former Bayelsa State Governor Deprieye Alamieyeseiga.
Kuku, who spoke against the backdrop of the threat issued by MEND on Tuesday, said he had no illusion that MEND existed, adding that he would do everything to engage it through the amnesty programme.
He said: "Predominantly, peace has returned to the Niger Delta but it does not mean that peace is perfect in the Niger Delta. I do know that some people are still aggrieved and Mr. President is extending his hands of fellowship to every one who is aggrieved."
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I honestly don't see how violence can help us,some people are bent on not moving forward.We are yet to be identified as a nation who can move forward,pls millitants help us,help Nigeria.
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