Buhari to visit Niger Delta this week

President Muhammadu Buhari will this week make his first visit as president to Nigeria’s oil-producing south, which has been riven by an upsurge in violence from militants, his office said Tuesday.

Attacks on pipelines and other infrastructure have cut Nigeria’s oil production to some 1.4 million barrels per day, exacerbating revenue shortfalls caused by the global slump in crude prices.

But a media aide to Buhari said the president would travel to Ogoniland in Rivers state to flag off a long-awaited clean-up of the area, which has been affected by oil spills. “All things being equal, the president will be in Ogoniland on Thursday for the historic clean up of the area,” the aide told AFP.