ABUJA, Nigeria, July 19 (UPI) -- Security officials at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. apprehended a man they say was trying to blow up its national headquarters, the company said.
The NNPC announced during the weekend that "vigilant" security officials intervened in an attempt Thursday to set blow up a diesel generator at its Abuja headquarters.
Levi Ajounuma, a spokesman for NNPC, said security teams handed the man over to Nigeria authorities.
"For now all we know is that the man upon interrogation claimed that he came to Abuja from Port Harcourt," he said. "We are approaching the matter with an open mind and we are allowing the security agencies to do their investigation."
The Nigerian energy sector is plagued by funding issues, sabotage and militant activity in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for killing four soldiers with a Nigerian joint task force in June.
MEND declared a formal end to an October cease-fire in early 2010. The group complains it is cut out of the oil wealth in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
No group claimed responsibility for the attempted attack on the NNPC headquarters.
