Skip to main content

Twitter takes down Niger Delta Avengers’ account


Micro-blogging website, Twitter, on Monday suspended an account belonging to a group of oil pipelines saboteurs, Niger Delta Avengers.
The suspension came a day after the group said it successfully launched five attacks on oil installations within two days.
Notorious for its indiscriminate destruction of oil and gas installations owned by major oil corporations across the delta states, the Avengers had since inception used Twitter to announce attacks.
The group first used Twitter to claim responsibility for the bombing of Bonny Soku gas export line in Gbarain, Bayelsa State, in February 2016.
Since then, it had claimed responsibility for more than 24 attacks as at July 2.
While announcing attacks, it also demanded a better living condition for the people of the oil-rich region. At some point, the group demanded a sovereign state for the Niger Delta.
Shell, Chevron, Eni, NNPC and other oil companies operating in the region had their facilities attacked in recent months.
In June, Shell said it would keep the Forcados Export Terminal shut until activities returned to normal. Other companies also evacuated their staff.
The Avengers said its activities had seen Nigeria’s oil exports cut by more than half, to about 800,000 barrels per day – vowing to bring it to “zero” in the coming months.
The Nigerian government said it was willing to negotiate with leaders of the group, but its spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo, announced in June that only a dialogue supervised by foreign countries and corporations would make it engage the government.
Avengers’ followers on Twitter soared from less than 1,000 in April to over 30,000 followers as at July 2.
The Avengers’ website, was, however, still running as at 2:44 p.m. on July 4.
Twitter did not immediately respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry seeking further clarification about the decision to deactivate NDA’s account.

Premium Times.Twitter takes down Niger Delta Avengers’ accountTwitter takes down Niger Delta Avengers’ account

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The story of how Nigeria’s census figures became weaponized - Feyi Fawehinmi

By Feyi Fawehinmi The story of Nigeria’s 1962 census never gets old. Southern politicians seeking to end the north’s dominance of Nigerian politics decided that the only way to do it was through the census. Population figures at the time determined not only parliamentary representation but also revenue allocation and employee distribution in the civil service. In May 1962, the first census under an independent Nigerian government began. There had been a frenzy of mobilization by politicians in the south of the country using pamphlets, radio, schools, churches and mosques. Although the final results were not made public, the preliminary results were quite clear as to what had happened: the north’s population had gone up from 16.5 million in the last census in 1952 to 22.5 million, an increase of 30%. But in some parts of the east, the population had increased by up to 200% and more than 70% in general. The west also reported an increase of 70%. What the preliminary results showed...

Concerns grow over Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba's mental state at Manchester United

Telegraph UK Jose Mourinho is facing a serious battle to revitalise his star signings Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba amid growing concerns about their state of mind at Manchester United as Zlatan Ibrahimovic quit the club to join Los Angeles Galaxy in the United States. Sanchez has admitted his struggles at Old Trafford in the wake of his January move from Arsenal have left him “emotionally and psychologically exhausted”. And Pogba has appeared relieved to join up with the French squad this week and escape his current club woes under Mourinho, with France coach Didier Deschamps admitting the midfielder’s problems at United were “complicated” following heart-to-heart talks between the pair. Concerns over Sanchez and Pogba came as Mourinho launched yet another defence of his reign at United and brand of football and LA Galaxy prepared to announce on Friday that Ibrahimovic has signed a two-year deal to join the Major League Soccer outfit after his short spell at Old Trafford w...

Game Of Thrones Finale Breaks Record Again

The finale of the 7th season of HBO hit show “Game of Thrones” has again broken the record to become HBO’s most watched show ever. The episode “The Dragon and the Wolf” was seen by 12.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. HBO said when views from streaming service HBO Go and its stand-alone HBO Now app are included, that number rises to a whooping 16.5 million viewers. The 12.1 million viewers is a 36 percent improvement from last season finale which was seen by 8.9 million people. The previous record for the most watched HBO show belonged to, fittingly, episode 5 of the 7th season Game of Thrones, which was seen by 10.7 million viewers. HBO added that this season averaged 31 million viewers per episode once all live, time-shifted, on-demand, and streaming views are included. This is another record set by the show.