A crude
oil pipeline in Nigeria's southern state of Bayelsa operated by the
local subsidiary of Italy's Eni was attacked on Sunday, the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) said.
The
attack comes just days after President Muhammadu Buhari said he had
heightened the military presence in the oil-rich Niger Delta region,
where attacks in the last few weeks have driven the country's oil output
to a more than 20-year low.
Desmond
Agu, a spokesman for the NSDC, a government agency, said the Agip
pipeline was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, around 12:30 a.m.
(2330 GMT Saturday).
"A gang of armed
youths ... vandalised pipeline along Azuzuama axis of the Tebidaba-Brass
pipeline with dynamite and ignited fire on the line," he said, adding
that one of the suspected attackers had been arrested.
Eni, which
operates in Nigeria through its subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company,
could not be immediately reached to comment on the attack.
Former
militants have called for a halt to a resurgence of attacks in the
Niger Delta, saying it is an unnecessary distraction for Buhari's
administration.
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