Things You Should Know About The Niger-Delta Avengers

• They are a new militant group in the south destroying oil-producing companies pipelines

• They describe themselves as young, well-educated and have since early 2016 been attacking Nigeria's oil and gas infrastructure, helping drag production to 20-year lows.

• They demand an independent state and want international oil companies out of the region.

• Even the Nigerian security services are not 100 percent sure what they are up against.Still, given their ability to execute attacks on critical oil and gas infrastructure, it's likely some members were part of former militant organisations

• The Avengers may not be a defined group of people, except for a core of maybe 100-150 people or so. But their level of organisation is under suspect

• Nigeria reached a ceasefire with militant groups in 2009 which previously disrupted oil production and introduced an amnesty programme. 

• They were given a monthly stipend and jobs training in the oil industry as welders, divers and technicians in 2009

• President Muhammadu Buhari has struggled to pay for the 2009 budgetted amnesty programme after the global oil price crashed in the economy

• He has also ended lucrative security contracts with former militants to protect pipelines.

• The Avengers want a greater share of oil revenue, amnesty payments, and clean-up and compensation for spills.

• They also have a series of political demands that culminate in the creation of an independent Niger Delta state.

• They are connected to the Biafra and they have being demanding for the release of pro-Biafra leader Nnamdi Kanu

• The Avengers and other groups that have popped up in recent months are likely getting some support from former and current.

• It was expected that they will be a threat to Buhari administration but in the beginning of his administration, they were quiet

• They have diving skills. It was used in the February attack on Shell's Forcados underwater flow line

• They have knowledge of oil infrastructure to target areas that will significantly halt production.

• They have attack the sabotage of Chevron's offshore Okan gas valve platform, and bombings of Eni's infrastructure and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines,which provide gas to Lagos for power generation.
  

• Buhari said last weekend he is going to re-engineer the amnesty programme, which could be an olive branch to the militants.