Nigeria army detains suspected Avengers militants

Nigeria’s army says it has arrested militants suspected of working with Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), including their leader, for conducting sabotage activities against the country’s oil and gas facilities.

According to the reports, the Nigerian soldiers and security forces, backed by air cover, detained Isaac Romeo, the suspected leader of the NDA, along with two other militants over the weekend in Calabar, the capital of Cross River state, in the Delta region, the army said Wednesday.

A fourth man suspected of being responsible for an attack on a pipeline operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and Nigerian energy company, Shoreline, in August was detained in Edo state in southern Nigeria on Tuesday, according to the military.

The arrests come despite a truce declared by the militants in an open letter to the government last month.

The army fears the NDA could launch more assaults against the oil and gas infrastructure during negotiations for peace.

SS