Spokesman Desmond Agwu said the blast occurred at the pipeline at Lasukugbene and that NDSC officers exchanged gunfire with some of the attackers.

Eni, which operates in Nigeria through its subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company, could not be reached for immediate comment.

This comes on the heels of attacks by Niger Delta Avengers who on Wednesday night attacked three oil manifolds belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited around the creeks of Warri North Local government of Delta state.

The rampaging militant group while confirming the attack in a statement posted on their website said: “Between the hours of 10:50 pm and 11:10 pm our (Niger Delta Avengers) strike team blew up Chevron manifolds: RMP 22, 23 and 24. It also announced that the group had shut down all its social media accounts as a result of fraudsters operating in their name and that it will now be communicating with members of the public through its website.