Niger’s junta has confirmed that rebels have damaged an oil pipeline carrying crude oil to neighboring Benin.
The Patriotic Liberation Front, which is fighting for the release of former president Mohamed Bazoum, who was ousted in a coup last July, said earlier this week it was behind the attack.
It has threatened to attack oil installations and called on Chinese companies operating the pipeline to end their support for the military regime.
It is the latest setback to hit the recently opened 2,000 km (1,243 mi) pipeline as relations between Niger and Benin continue to deteriorate.
State media said the “malicious individuals” who sabotaged part of the pipeline would be arrested and prosecuted.
‘We know which group is the author of the act [and which also] claimed [it],” said public prosecutor Ousmane Baydo by news agency AFP.
Images broadcast by state broadcaster Tele Sahel on Friday evening showed damage in Niger’s southern Zinder region, with an oil spill extending into the bush.
The pipeline was formally launched late last year, connecting Niger’s Agadem oil field to the coast of Benin – and will be crucial for both economies.
But the country’s future has been in jeopardy after last year’s coup, when regional sanctions were imposed on Niger.
In February, the regional bloc ECOWAS agreed to lift it and allow the borders to reopen.
Benin’s economy had also been hit by trade blockades and was eager for imports and exports to resume.
But Niger decided to keep its borders closed to goods from Benin because the neighboring country hosted French troops who were training others to destabilize Niger.
The junta in Niger views France with suspicion and has built closer ties with Russia since taking power. French troops were expelled who had been in the West African state to fight militant Islamists who threatened stability in the region.
France claims it has no bases in Benin and such accusations are part of disinformation campaigns against the former colonial power.
Nevertheless, the refusal to reopen the land border, which was usually crowded with trucks moving back and forth, led Benin to block Niger’s first oil exports.
China eased tensions – and Niger managed to join the world of oil exporters, with the first batch of crude oil leaving Benin at the end of May.
But the feud between Benin and Niger continues.
Earlier this month, five Niger nationals were arrested at an oil port in Benin on charges of impersonation – and the loading of a second shipment of crude oil was reportedly aborted.
Three of the Nigeriens received 18-month suspended sentences. They all worked for the Chinese oil company that controlled the pipeline. They were deported on Friday and flown to Niamey.
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