Nigerian militants claim pipeline blast and capture of 6 crew workers

LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) - Nigerian militants said Monday they had blown up an oil pipeline and captured six crew members of a chemical tanker.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, in a written statement, said the Okan manifold, which it said carried some 80 percent of Chevron Nigeria Limited's off-short crude oil to a loading platform, was blown up Sunday at 8:45 p.m. (3:45 p.m. ET).

In a separate action, MEND said that three Russians, two Filipinos and an Indian were seized Sunday from the Siehem Peace about 20 miles from the southern port city of Escravos "for disregarding our warning to oil, gas and chemical workers to keep away from the Niger Delta waters ... and will be held until further notice."

It added that the action was taken "to serve as a warning to others that there are root issues that have to be resolved with the Nigerian government before normalcy can resume, such as the return of displaced civilians to their ancestral home, compensation for damages, return of the ill-trained JTF [Joint Task Force soldiers] to their barracks and last but not the least, constitutional amendment to address fiscal federalism."

JTF spokesman Col. Rabe Abubakar said he had no details about the pipeline attack or the seized ship, but described such attacks as "purely economic sabotage," requiring no great skill to carry out.

"They are attacked when no-one's guarding the place, so even a small child can blow-up a pipeline and run away – no-one is there to guard them," he said.