TheCable

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), the militant group which claimed responsibilities for recent attacks on oil installations, has asked all oil companies operating in the region to suspend operations within two weeks.

The group, which said failure to comply with the directive will be bloody, claimed that the military lacked the power to prevent it from striking.

“The Niger Delta Avengers is giving two weeks ultimatum to all oil companies in our region to shut down and evacuates their staff,”  the group said in a statement signed by Mudoch Agbinibo, its spokesman.

“If at the end of the ultimatum and you still operating. We will blow up all the locations. It will be bloody. So just shut down your operations and leave.”

The statement said NDA had been able to halt 50% crude production in the country “without killing a single fly”.

The militants dismissed the threat of the military to crush them, saying they have spies among security personnel.

“To the Nigerian military, we will always be ten steps ahead of you because Niger Delta Avengers are among you. We know all your plans. If you smart or intelligent enough, you will look inward and not outside. We know you are vulnerable, but do not take our calmness for granted.

“We have come to the conclusion that the military will get a feel of the Avengers if it harasses or invades any community in the region.”

On Tuesday, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company’s (SNEPCo) suspended operations, citing militant attacks as its reason.

The development is a reminder of the happenings in the Niger Delta before the administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua granted amnesty to restive youths in the region in 2009.

Nigeria’s oil output is currently at a 22-year-low at a time when the world is lamenting the falling crude oil prices.