Niger Delta Avengers deny assassination claims

Nigerian oil militants, on Saturday, denied the government’s claim that they were plotting to assassinate a military officer.

In a press statement released Friday the Nigerian secret service said it arrested two suspected members of the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers.

It alleged one was “planning to assassinate” a military officer in Kaduna while the other was planning to carry out explosive attacks on critical oil and gas pipelines.

But Avengers spokesman Mudoch Agbinibo described the arrests as “laughable” and further said that the men are “sleeper agents” for the Nigerian secret service.

The Niger Delta Avengers are a new militant group who started attacking oil and gas infrastructure early this year in Nigeria’s oil-rich but poor southern swamplands.

Like previous militant groups before them, the Avengers are fighting for a greater share of the country’s oil revenues and greater political autonomy.