Fifteen civilians were killed following a failed bomb attack at a Nigerian oil facility in the north east of the country on Tuesday.
Five soldiers and seventeen more civilians were wounded as the Nigerian security forces opened fire on vehicles laden with explosives as they approached the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation facility at Mule. The facility stands on the outskirts of the state capital, Maiduguri.
“Three of the four explosive-laden vehicles were demobilised by shots fired at them by soldiers at the checkpoint, shortly before the explosions that rocked the area,” Olukolade said.
The Opec nation currently produces around 2.5 mbpd of crude oil. However, the country’s production levels are being increasingly threatened by escalating violence in the country.
Violence in Borno state is currently worse than at any time during its 4 and a half year insurgency, residents say.
A military crackdown since last May has failed to rout the insurgency, which remains the leading security threat to Africa’s top oil producer and a serious headache for President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of February 2015 elections.
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