Barely 24 hours after the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbanjo, visited Delta State, gunmen suspected to be militants have set ablaze a crude oil pipeline at Ughelli.

The pipeline belonging to the Niger Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, located behind the SETRACO construction yard, along the East/West express road, was seen raging with inferno at about 4:30p.m.

The real cause of the inferno is still sketchy at the moment but residents say the latest attack might not be unconnected with the activities of the Niger Delta militants.

According to Vanguard, a security source, operating in the area, refuted insinuation that the inferno was as a result of an attack by suspected militants.

He said: “The cause of the incident is as a result of bush burning. Someone set fire on the area and the pipeline, which had some crude oil spill on it and the surrounding environment went up in flames, sending huge balls of flame into the air.”.

Speaking further, the source said: “We are ensuring the maximum protection of oil and gas facilities in the area and I can assure you that there would be no form of attacks on oil facilities in the area like time past.”

Recall that Osinbajo, during his visit to the oil-rich region, admitted that the Niger Delta area had long been abandoned.‎

NigeriaNewspapper