A new militant group has emerged and is quickly gaining notoriety in the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta Avengers rose to global prominence after claiming responsibility for two attacks in May. First, the group bombed a Chevron facility off the coast of Escravos on May 4. Just over a week later, another explosion occurred at Chevron Nigeria Ltd.'s Marakaba line oil facility in Warri. In the wake of the attacks, Shell and other area operators have withdrawn personnel, shutting down facilities and plunging Nigeria's output to levels not seen since the early 1990s.
Beyond the Niger Delta Avengers' flair for chaos, little is known about the group, which conceals its members' identities. After a Nigerian military commander said the group hails from Gbaramatu Kingdom in the South-West Local Government Area, military forces moved into the region in the hopes of disrupting any plots. But Nigerian officials are still struggling to find out who the Niger Delta Avengers are, and even former Niger Delta militants do not seem to know.
Mysterious as it is, the group has proved a menace to production in the Niger Delta region, recalling the havoc that the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) caused less than a decade ago. The Niger Delta Avengers have demonstrated a surprising level of prowess, executing well-planned attacks on strategic targets. On May 12, the group issued a two-week ultimatum, promising further strikes if Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not accede to its political demands. The threat will only add to the Nigerian oil and natural gas industry's considerable woes, including low oil prices, accidental leaks and damaged pipelines. But since roughly one-third of Nigeria's oil production occurs far from shore in the Gulf of Guinea, most of the country's oil industry appears safe from peril, at least for now.
