Oil pipeline belonging to Italy's Eni attacked in Nigeria

Militants attacked an oil pipeline belonging to Italian company Eni on Friday morning in Nigeria’s Bayelsa State.

Bayelsa, is a state in the country’s south and lies in the restive Niger Delta region. The oil-rich region has seen an upsurge in attacks on oil installations belonging to multinationals and the government.

A Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) spokesman told Reuters that the attack occurred at a pipeline at Lasukugbene and that NSDC officers exchanged gunfire with some of the attackers.

Eni, operates in Nigeria through its subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company. This is not the first time their facilities have been attacked by militants.

The Niger Delta region has recently been plagued by militant attacks which led to Nigeria dropping from the top of African oil producers. The notable Niger Delta Avengers were using twitter to announce attacks till their account was shut down last week.

They have however continued the attacks using their website to officially communicate their activities.