LONDON -(Dow Jones)January 30, 2009
Nigeria's main militant movement Friday said it was ending a four-months ceasefire and was gearing up for a "sweeping assault" on oil and gas companies rekindling the risk of escalating disruptions in the country's restive Niger Delta. A ceasefire decreed late September by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, led to a decrease in attacks on oil facilities, which have shut down production of more than half a million barrels a day in the Niger Delta. However, piracy and sabotage tied to oil theft has continued.
MEND, which wants local control of the region's oil wealth, said in an e-mail Friday that it "is compelled to call off its unilateral ceasefire effective 0100Hrs on Saturday, January 31." Militants generally refer to local time, which is an hour ahead of GMT.
"The oil industry should therefore brace itself for Hurricane Obama; a sweeping assault starting from Rivers state that will change the face of oil and gas exports from Nigeria," it added.
This month, MEND had warned it could end its ceasefire after a local militant commander was killed by the army.
But it said in an e-mail the lull was now called off after Nigerian armed forces carried out an attack on the camp of Ateke Tom, a warlord based in Rivers state, in the eastern Delta. MEND said Tom was a signatory of the ceasefire.
Both the militants and the army say the lull hasn't led to any prospect of long-term peace. "During this ceasefire, we had hoped the Nigerian government would take advantage of the cessation of hostilities to embrace dialogue and reconciliation," the movement said in the e-mail.
"This latest attack is an indication that the Nigerian government prefers to make military inroads during the ceasefire instead of inroads towards genuine peace and reconciliation."
With around 2 million barrels a day of production, Nigeria is vying with Angola for the title of Africa's largest oil producer. Attacks on its oil industry in recent years have rattled oil markets.
By Benoit Faucon, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-9266; benoit.faucon@ dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-30-091112ET
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