Port Harcourt — As the withdrawal of ceasefire by Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) nears one week, a group which described itself as Niger Delta Re-Enforcement Team," yesterday claimed it blew up a major pipeline belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company in Buguma, Rivers State.

MEND, however, said it was not involved in the attack but that if confirmed, it will support it and go ahead with the resumption of hostilities in disregard to the plea by Chief Edwin Clark.

"With respect to Chief Clark, we are going ahead until we see government's sincerity. The generation of the respected elder has sat on the fence for 50 years," Gbomo Jomo said in response to our inquiry.

In a text message sent in the early hours of yesterday to THISDAY in Port Harcourt, the new group said it took the action because the amnesty programme of the Federal Government has failed, leaving them in the lurch.

However, attempts to confirm the story from SPDC, Mr. Precious Okolobo, did not yield fruit, as he prayed for time to make contacts and confirm or deny the attack but did not get back to us.

Unofficial sources in the oil multinational however denied the attack, although they stated that they were yet to identify any sabotage on their pipeline, adding that they were still searching since morning when the information that the Buguma pipeline in Asari Toru Local Government area had been destroyed.