Militants bomb Niger Delta second time (Roundup)

Dec 23, 2006, 18:06 GMT

Abuja - Militants set off a bomb near the official residence of the Rivers State governor in the state capital Port Harcourt, the second bombing in the Niger Delta Saturday.

The first explosion took place in Warri, Delta State, where the militants blew up two oil pipelines belonging to the state-run Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

Spokesman for the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Jomo Gbomo, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that his group was not responsible for the Warri incident.

'It was not us though we have given a blanket authorization to all communities and individuals to carry out acts of sabotage across the Niger Delta wherever and whenever possible,' he said.

In another statement addressed to media, Gbomo said however that 'operatives of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, successfully planted explosives in locations of strategic importance around the Niger Delta.

'These are contained in two cars which will shortly be detonated,' he said.

Ireju Barasua, police spokesperson in Rivers State, said the device in the Port Harcourt incident was placed in an unused car parked near the revenue office. She said there were no casualties.

The Niger Delta had become a theatre of violence since February when militant groups increased the rate at which they destroyed oil facilities and abducted expatriate oil workers.

They claim to have adopted the measures to demand an increased say in the control of the oil and gas deposits of the region.

Nigeria relies on oil and gas exports from the region for more than 90 per cent of its total annual income.