ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) – Nigeria’s main militant group says it has attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil facility in southern Nigeria.

In an e-mail statement to journalists, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta also said Sunday it plans phased attacks until its goal is achieved.

The militants say they are fighting to force the federal government to devote more oil-industry funds to the southern region, which remains deeply poor despite its natural bounty.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of the militants’ attack claim Sunday.

Past militant attacks on oil infrastructure in the area have trimmed output in Africa’s biggest oil producer by about 25 percent