Ghanaian President, John Mahama, has blamed intermittent power cuts in his country on delays in delivery of crude oil from Nigeria to power thermal plants due to the activities of Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, which had been blowing up oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta.

Mahama’s lamentation came as the NDA, yesterday, blew up three Chevron Nigeria Limited manifolds at Diogbolo, near Dibi, Warri Local Government Area of Delta State, using controlled explosive devices.

President Mahama, who spoke during an Eid-el-fitr speech at a ceremony, said Ghana had been experiencing a massive shortfall in electricity production in recent times, causing individuals and companies to complain.

He noted that with the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta, particularly the activities of Niger Delta Avengers, which had led to blowing up of oil facilities and causing disruptions in oil production, Nigeria’s oil production had been destabilised.

According to Mahama, this is the reason Ghana’s electricity supply has taken a dip.

“We have recently suffered some generational problems. I held a stakeholders’ meeting with all those involved in the power sector. Because of sabotage in Nigeria on the terminals, crude oil that we ordered last month has not arrived; and so, it has created some generational problem for us,” said Mahama.

He, however, assured Ghanaians that things would be normalised soon, saying: “We are taking steps every day to ensure that Ghana has security when it comes to power.”

Militants now use controlled explosion devices

Meanwhile, NDA has upgraded its activities and unsettled security operatives, as it now blows up oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta with controlled explosion devices.

The militant group used the controlled explosion method on Wednesday night when it blew up three Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, manifolds at Diogbolo, near Dibi in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, without the knowledge of soldiers at the military locations nearby.

President Muhammadu Buhari raised the alarm recently that Niger Delta militants had become more sophisticated than Boko Haram, saying the technology being deployed by the militants to destroy oil installations wa6+s high tech.

“The way they can go on high sea and international waters and target oil installations is a national problem. It is affecting development,” President Buhari had said.

NDA blows up 3 Chevron manifolds

On Wednesday night’s attack, the NDA in a statement by its spokesperson, self-styled Brig-Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, said: “Between the hours of 10:50pm and 11:10 pm, our strike team blew up Chevron manifolds.”

While wishing Muslims a happy Eid Mubarak celebration, the group added: “The manifolds are RMP 22, 23 and 24.”

Avengers denies Rivers’ attack

The militant group, however, denied attack on the NNPC pipeline in Eleme, Rivers State, posted on a Niger Delta Avengers Facebook account, which it described as fake.

Warning the public that it was shutting down all its social media accounts, the group said: “Niger Delta Avengers is not out to mislead the public. As a result, we are closing our entire social network accounts and will be using our websites to pass information to the public.

“This Facebook account/page is an impostor page that was opened by fraudsters to deceive the general public. We are warning any group that wants to do anything to go about their activities without tagging us (Niger Delta Avengers). Instead, do your activities and claim responsibility.”