LAGOS: Nigeria's state oil company said on Wednesday it had shut down two of its four refineries due to crude supply problems after recent pipeline attacks.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation carried out an "operational shutdown" of the refineries in the northern city of Kaduna and Port Harcourt, in the southern Niger Delta, on Sunday, it said in a statement. It was unclear how long the refineries would be shut. A spokesman declined to give details.

Multiple attacks on strategic oil and gas installations is costing Nigeria $2.4 million daily, a Cabinet minister said as the military launched a manhunt for a militant and warned it will hold community leaders responsible for the “economic sabotage.”

The attacks began Friday in the southern Niger Delta after a court issued an arrest warrant for former warlord Government “Tompolo” Ekpemupolo in connection with $17.4 million that has gone missing from government coffers.

Explosions on a Nigerian Gas Company pipeline connected to the Escravos facility of Chevron Nigeria is costing the country $1.98 million daily in lost power and $400,000 in gas, Power Minister Babatunde Fashola said, adding repairs would cost another $600,000.