IN THE early hours of June 16th a pipeline belonging to Nigeria’s state-owned oil company exploded. This was the latest in a string of attacks claimed by the Niger Delta Avengers, a new group taking out pipelines and oil platforms in the southern, oil-pumping part of the country. Since it started wreaking havoc in January production has plummeted to its lowest levels in two decades. Nigeria now churns out about 1.9m barrels of black stuff per day, about a third less than the government budgeted for this year. The militants seem sophisticated—one of their attacks took out a 250,000-b/d Shell export terminal—and they threaten “untold terror” ahead for the oil sector. But who are the Niger Delta Avengers?
