Just as Nigeria started to see a rise in its crude production, militants have once again resumed hostilities in the Niger Delta region. In less than 72 hours, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) perpetrated five different attacks on oil facilities in the country and many worry that this may lead to another bout of bad sales for the oil-dependent West African nation.

At about 9:15p.m, the Avengers group said it blew up the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Crude Oil Trunk Line supplying crude oil to the Warri refinery. The Friday attack heralded four others which the NDA group claimed were carried out by its ‘strike team.’

“At 9:15 pm on Friday, the @NDAvengers blew up Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Crude Oil Trunk Line to Warri Refinery.

“At 11:26 pm on Saturday @NDAvengers blew up two NPDC major crude trunk lines close to Batan flow station in Delta state.

“At 1:15 am on Sunday @NDAvengers blew up two major Chevron Oil Wells. WELL 7 and WELL 8 close to Abiteye flow station in Delta state.

“All Five operations were carried out by @NDAvengers Strike Team. Well Done Soldiers,” the Avengers group tweeted on its page.

Since February this year, the Niger Delta Avengers group has been centre stage, claiming attacks on oil installations in the region. The group named its activities ‘Operation Red Economy,’ a mission aimed at paralysing the Nigerian economy which relies on revenue generated from the sale of crude oil.

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari pleaded with leaders from the Niger Delta to help him pacify the people of their community, promising that he remains committed to rebuilding the impoverished area. Before this time, the president had confessed his confusion about the Niger Delta Avengers to his political party leaders. Buhari reportedly said: “I honestly don’t know how many factions the militants are in the Niger Delta compared to the north-east where you have the Boko Haram. Those of you who have friends among the leadership or even the militants themselves should plead with them in the name of God ‎Almighty to take it easy.”

In the mean time, the Twitter account used by the dreaded militant group to announce each attack they carried out was suspended this morning. The account suspension may have been requested by the Nigerian government – this could be a ploy by the government to limit the popularity of the Avengers and tactically gag the militant group. However, the group’s website is still accessible.

Although the Avengers agreed to a conditional dialogue with the Federal Government of Nigeria, they stated that they were yet to meet with any government official, discarding the purported meeting where a ceasefire was agreed upon.