The new militant group in Rivers State Bayan-Men has again attacked another oil facility, Onosi-Ogu Manifold, belonging to the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) at Obosi area of Omoku, Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area.
The attack on Tuesday night followed one earlier carried out on an oil well, OB5 (Obiavu-5) operated by Agip in the same local government on November 16.
The militant group struck the second time following the expiration of the 24-hour ultimatum it gave to Agip to address its demands.
In a statement signed by its commander General Agaba, the group took responsibility for the attack, saying it was fighting for justice against the Omoku people.
It also threatened to carry out more attacks on Agip facilities if the firm fails to directly engage the communities of Omoku.
“The action we carried out yesterday (Tuesday) as a result of Agip’s failure to comply with the 24 hours ultimatum we gave to them to engage our people on how to commence dealing directly with individual communities other than through individuals.
“We are not criminals, we are intellectuals. The fact is that when a man is pushed to the wall, he bounces back with double force. We are giving Agip another seven days to open windows of negotiation with the 27 communities of Omoku clan.
“This meeting will involve the chiefs of these communities, the CDC (Community Development Committee) chairmen of the Communities and the Youths Presidents of the 27 communities. That is how we want it.
“We don’t want it in anybody’s parlour, we want it at the Civic Centre where everybody will come. The reason we want to soft-pedal now is because the appeals from different quarters and our Nchaka festival that is coming up in Sunday. We don’t want anything to affect our festival,” the statement read.
Agaba accused the military sent to maintain order in the area of taking sides with the company.
