Warri Refinery Fire: MEND Claims Responsibility

L-R:Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Dr Folashade Esan; Minister, Mr Labaran Maku and acting Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Otunba Jide Adebayo, at the Minister of Information’s monthly world news conference in Abuja yesterday

An explosion at the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company in Warri, Delta State, caused a fire  forcing the 35-year-old company, operating mostly with outmodel equipment to shut down production, yesterday.
The fire started at about 11.00 am in the refining section of the company, a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, with an installed capacity of 125,000 bpd, while crude oil refining process was on.
Our source said, “It is the 10-H-02 equipment in area 2 that exploded, and the fire lasted for few minutes, before it was put off by firefighters and safety officials of the company.”
The source asserted, “the exact cause of the explosion, which sent huge balls of fire skyward has not been ascertained and I can tell you that investigation is on, I cannot say the actual cause of the explosion.”
However, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility for the explosion at the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company.
According to MEND, in a statement, “Hurricane Exodus” was intended to burn down the entire refinery, adding that “as long as President  Goodluck Jonathan continues to rely on an unsustainable and fraudulent Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, peace and security will continue to elude his government in the region” adding that “Hurricane Exodus” was on course.