Niger Delta Avengers | |
---|---|
Leaders | Moudoch Agbinibo |
Dates of operation | January 2016 – present |
Headquarters | Delta State (allegedly) |
Active regions | Niger Delta |
Ideology | Regionalism |
Allies | Red Egbesu Water Lions Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force Niger Delta Red Square Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate [ citation needed ] IPOB/ESN |
Opponents | Nigeria |
Battles and wars | Conflict in the Niger Delta Insurgency in Eastern Nigeria |
Website | Official website |
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is a militant group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. [1] The group publicly announced their existence in March 2016. [2]
The NDA is known for attacking oil-producing facilities in the deltas, causing the shutdown of oil terminals and a fall in Nigeria's oil production to its lowest level in twenty years. [2] The attacks caused Nigeria to fall behind Angola as Africa's largest oil producer. [3] The reduced oil output has hampered the Nigerian economy and destroyed its budget, [4] since Nigeria depends on the oil industry for nearly all its government revenues. [5]
The NDA's stated that their aims are to create a sovereign state in the Niger Delta and have threatened to disrupt Nigeria's economy if their aims are not met. The NDA claims its members are "young, educated, well travelled...and educated in east Europe". The group criticised the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, for having never visited the delta and his detention of the Biafran independence activist Nnamdi Kanu. [2] [6]
The leadership of the organization is not understood, as many local leaders have acted as the spokesperson to the government. This has made it difficult for the government to make meaningful contact with the group. Nigerian officials are also disorganized when speaking with the members, as many have found it their duty to make contact. [7]
Additionally, many Niger Delta militant groups have sprung up in the wake of the NDA’s 2016 actions. These copycat organization have contested claims to various act against numerous oil companies originally attributed to the NDA. [8] The most prominent of these splinter groups has been the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA), whose similarity of name has caused confusion both inside and outside the country but is not affiliated with the NDA. [9]
The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri, Udu, Okpe and Uvwie are the commercial capital of Delta State with a population of over 311,970 people in 2006. The city is the indigenous territory of Itsekiri, Urhobo and Ijaw people.
Delta State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1991. Bordered on the north by Edo State, the east by Anambra and Rivers states, and that south by Bayelsa State while to the west is the Bight of Benin which covers about 160 kilometres of the state's coastline. The state was initially created with 12 local government areas in 1991, but was later expanded to 19 and now has 25 local government areas. Its capital city is Asaba which is located along the River Niger on the northeastern end of the state, while the state's economic center is the city of Warri on the southwestern coastline.
The Escravos River is a river in southern Nigeria, close to the city of Warri. "Escravos" is a Portuguese word meaning "slaves" and the area was one of the main conduits for slave trade between Nigeria and the United States in the 18th century. The Escravos is a distributary of the Niger River, it flows for 57 kilometres (35 mi), ending at the Bight of Benin of the Gulf of Guinea where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Chevron, a major US oil company, has its main Nigerian oil production facility at the mouth of the Escravos River. This oil terminal pumps approximately.
The Forçados River is a channel in the Niger Delta, in southern Nigeria. It flows for approximately 198 kilometres (123 mi) and meets the sea at the Bight of Benin in Delta State. It is an important channel for small ships. The Forçados River splits from the Niger River at Toru-Abubou near Agbere Town in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, the same point as the Nun River.
The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical zone, one state (Ondo) from South West geopolitical zone and two states from South East geopolitical zone.
Bayelsa is a state in the South South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. The capital, Yenagoa, is susceptible to high risk of annual flooding. It shares a boundary with Rivers State to the east and Delta State to the north across the Niger River for 17 km and the Forçados River for 198 km, with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean dominating its southern borders. It has a total area of 10,773 square kilometres (4,159 sq mi). The state comprises eight local government areas: Ekeremor, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Yenagoa, Nembe, Ogbia, Sagbama, Brass and Southern Ijaw. The state is the smallest in Nigeria by population as of the 2006 census. Being in the Niger Delta, Bayelsa State has a riverine and estuarine setting, with bodies of water within the state preventing the development of significant road infrastructure.
Nigeria is the second largest oil and gas producer in Africa. Crude oil from the Niger Delta basin comes in two types: light, and comparatively heavy – the lighter has around 36 of API gravity while the heavier has 20–25 of API gravity. Both types are paraffinic and low in Sulphur. Nigeria's economy and budget have been largely supported from income and revenues generated from the petroleum industry since 1960. Statistics as at February 2021 shows that the Nigerian oil sector contributes to about 9% of the entire GDP of the nation. Nigeria is a major exporter of crude oil and petroleum products to the United States of America. In 2010, Nigeria exported over one million barrels per day to the United States, representing 9% of the U.S. total crude oil and petroleum products imports and over 40% of Nigeria exports.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is a decentralised militant group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. MEND's actions – including sabotage, theft, property destruction, guerrilla warfare, and kidnapping – are part of the broader conflict in the Niger Delta and reduced Nigeria's oil production by 33% between 2006-07.
Shell Nigeria is the common name for Shell plc's Nigerian operations carried out through four subsidiaries—primarily Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC). Royal Dutch Shell's joint ventures account for more than 21% of Nigeria's total petroleum production.
The current conflict in the Niger Delta first arose in the early 1990s over tensions between foreign oil corporations and a number of the Niger Delta's minority ethnic groups who feel they are being exploited, particularly the Ogoni and the Ijaw. Ethnic and political unrest continued throughout the 1990s despite the return to democracy and the election of the Obasanjo government in 1999. Struggle for oil wealth and environmental harm over its impacts has fueled violence between ethnic groups, causing the militarization of nearly the entire region by ethnic militia groups, Nigerian military and police forces, notably the Nigerian Mobile Police. The violence has contributed to Nigeria's ongoing energy supply crisis by discouraging foreign investment in new power generation plants in the region.
Environmental issues in the Niger Delta are caused by its petroleum industry. The delta covers 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi) within wetlands of 70,000 km2 (27,000 sq mi) formed primarily by sediment deposition. Home to 20 million people and 40 different ethnic groups, this floodplain makes up 7.5% of Nigeria's total land mass. It is the largest wetland and maintains the third-largest drainage basin in Africa. The Delta's environment can be broken down into four ecological zones: coastal barrier islands, mangrove swamp forests, freshwater swamps, and lowland rainforests. Fishing and farming are the main sources of livelihoods for majority of her residents.
Chanomi Creek is a body of water in the Niger Delta in Delta State, Nigeria.
The Warri Crisis was a series of conflicts in Delta State, Nigeria between 1997 and 2003 between the Itsekiri, the Ijaw ethnic groups. Over 200,000 people were displaced by the Warri conflict between 1999 and 2006. Over 700,000 people were displaced during this period by violence in Delta State overall.
Warri South West is a Local Government Area in Delta State, Nigeria. It was created in 1996 and has its headquarters in Ogbe-Ijoh, an Ijaw community.
Oloibiri Oilfield is an onshore oilfield located in Oloibiri in Ogbia LGA of Bayelsa State, Nigeria, and was the first to be discovered in that country. It is located about 45 miles (72 km) east of Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta. Oloibiri field is about 13.75 square kilometres (5.31 sq mi) and lies in a swamp within OML 29
Oloibiri is a small community in Ogbia LGA located in Bayelsa State, in the eastern Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The inhabitants of Oloibiri community are mainly fishermen and farmers. It is the first place that oil was discovered in Nigeria.
The 2016Niger Delta conflict is an ongoing conflict around the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in a bid for the secession of the region, which was a part of the breakaway state of Biafra. It follows on-and-off conflict in the Christian-dominated southern Niger Delta in the preceding years, as well as an insurgency in the Muslim-dominated northeast.
The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM) is a militant group operating in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. The group was founded on August 2, 2016 in Delta State and is composed mainly of ethnic Urhobos, and a fairly large number of members belonging to the Isoko ethnic group.
Chevron Nigeria Limited is a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation and it is one of the largest oil producers in Nigeria. It was previously operating in Nigeria under the business name of Gulf Oil Company until merger activities changed its name to Chevron Nigeria. After another merger by the parent company with Texaco, the Nigerian oil and gas assets of Texaco Overseas Petroleum Company of Nigeria were merged into Chevron.
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