ASSESSMENTS

In Nigeria, Militant Attacks Made in Vain

Jan 23, 2016 | 14:28 GMT

Fighters with the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) prepare for a 2008 operation against the Nigerian army in the Niger Delta region.

(PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)

Summary

Nigerian militants are trying, but failing, to resurrect a campaign against oil interests as severe as the one they waged in the late 2000s. On Jan. 15, they attacked two crude oil pipelines in the Warri area of Delta state, shutting down the recently restarted Warri and Kaduna refineries, which produce an estimated at 25,000 barrels per day. The attacks were likely a response to an arrest warrant for alleged corruption against the former senior commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militant group, Government Ekpemupolo — more commonly known by the name Tompolo. The conduct by Tompolo's loyalists is reminiscent of past MEND behavior, which disrupted hundreds of thousands of barrels per day of crude oil output and resulted in frequent kidnappings of oil industry expatriates and Nigerian employees.

And though they were the most significant against the Nigerian oil industry since former President Goodluck Jonathan granted amnesty to Delta militants, the attacks were made in vain. Even if militants expand operations into a wider campaign, the damage to oil production will remain relatively small compared with what it was at the height of MEND operations years ago.

Nigerian militants are trying, but failing, to resurrect a campaign against oil interests as severe as the one they waged in the late 2000s. On Jan. 15, they attacked two crude oil pipelines in the Warri area of Delta state, shutting down the recently restarted Warri and Kaduna refineries, which produce an estimated at 25,000 barrels per day. The attacks were likely a response to an arrest warrant for alleged corruption against the former senior commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militant group, Government Ekpemupolo -- more commonly known by the name Tompolo. The conduct by Tompolo's loyalists is reminiscent of past MEND behavior, which disrupted hundreds of thousands of barrels per day of crude oil output and resulted in frequent kidnappings of oil industry expatriates and Nigerian employees. ...

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