ABJULA, Nigeria, June 25 (UPI) -- Nigeria's main rebel group took responsibility for blasting a Shell Oil pipeline and warned Russia the same fate awaits its Nigerian gas pipeline investments.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said Thursday in an e-mail sent to media outlets it "damaged the Bille-Krakrama pipeline overnight, cutting supplies from Shell's Cawthorne 1, 2 and 3 oil-pumping stations," reported The Times of Nigeria, which said it received the e-mail.
MEND officials said the group is fighting for a larger share of Nigeria's oil revenue to be retained locally.
The militants also warned Russia not to invest in Nigerian oil, saying to do so would be a waste of money. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is visiting the oil-rich African country and has signed an agreement.
"Mr. President, the agreements that you have signed in Abuja are worthless," the e-mail signed by MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said. "MEND will ensure to that."
The destruction of the Shell Oil pipeline "is the fate that awaits the gas pipelines you plan to invest in Nigeria if justice is not factored in the whole process," the e-mail read.
