Nigerian militants say blown up 3 oil pipelines

ABUJA, May 8 (Reuters) Fighters from the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) destroyed three major oil pipelines in Nigeria's southern delta today, the group said in an email statement.

The MEND said the Italian oil firm Agip's Brass terminal, which normally exports about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), had been affected by the attacks. Agip spokesmen could not immediately be reached.

The MEND, which demands local control of oil wealth in the impoverished delta, threatened to blow up more pipelines between now and May 29, when the outgoing Nigerian government is due to hand over power to its successor.

''Today ... at 0100 hours Nigerian time (0530 IST), fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta attacked and destroyed three major pipelines in Bayelsa State of the Niger Delta,'' said the MEND's spokesman, who uses the pseudonym Jomo Gbomo.

''Two of these pipelines were within the territory of Akasa and the third in Brass. They reported an immediate power outage at the Agip Brass terminal on the destruction of the pipeline in Brass,'' he added.

Asked for further clarification, Gbomo said the MEND fighters had noticed a power outage at the Brass terminal immediately after blowing up the pipeline.

''Loss in pressure in that pipeline which possibly could have been feeding the power generating plants as well may have triggered a cut-off device which as a safety measure cut off power and shut down other facilities in the terminal,'' he said.

He did not know whether power had now been restored to Brass. A source at Agip's parent company Eni in Italy said the company did not know anything about the incident and was looking into it.

HOSTAGES The MEND, which seized six foreign workers from an offshore facility operated by US major Chevron on May 1, issued photos of the hostages on today. They are four Italians, one American and one Croat.

Another 14 foreign hostages are being held by different armed groups in the delta, where abductions and attacks on oil facilities have intensified in the past week.

The MEND was responsible for a string of attacks on oil facilities in February 2006 that shut down a quarter of production from Nigeria, which is the world's eighth-biggest exporter of crude oil. That output has yet to resume.

The MEND, along with other armed groups in the lawless delta, have stepped up attacks since Nigeria staged elections last month that were widely condemned as fraudulent.

Gbomo has said the MEND wanted to make it clear it had no faith in president-elect Umaru Yar'Adua or his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, who is the outgoing governor of Bayelsa State in the heart of the delta.

''We intend to destroy between now and May 29 more pipes than we have destroyed in the last one year,'' Gbomo said in an email to Reuters.

The attacks on the pipelines come a day after Chevron was forced to shut down a 42,000 bpd production facility because of a protest by villagers armed with sticks and machetes.

REUTERS HK ND1504