Nigerian militants hit oil facility despite amnesty offer

Jun 26, 2009, 7:20 GMT

Nairobi/Abuja - Nigerian militants on Friday said they had attacked an offshore oil facility just hours after President Umaru Yar'Adua unveiled details of an amnesty aimed at ending unrest in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) last month stepped up its long-running campaign of sabotage, which has cut Nigeria's oil production by over 20 per cent since early 2006.

MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in an emailed statement that militants had blown up 'the second remaining well head of the Shell Afremo off-shore oil fields in Delta state' in response to a military offensive.

Militants operating in the oil-producing Niger Delta say they are fighting for a larger share of the wealth for local residents, who complain the oil industry has ruined their agriculture and fishing livelihoods.

Yar'Adua on Thursday revealed a 60-day amnesty for the militants, offering a presidential pardon, education and training to those who lay down their arms.

However, analysts say the amnesty will not be enough to bring peace as criminal gangs and corrupt politicians are making vast amounts of money by stealing oil from the region.

MEND's response to the offer spells bad news for Russian giant Gazprom, which on Wednesday signed a cooperation deal with Nigeria's state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) during a visit by President Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev said Moscow could invest billions of dollars in Nigeria's energy sector as Russia tries to catch up with China in gaining a slice of Africa's natural resources.

Gazprom is particularly keen to get involved in the Trans-Saharan Pipeline - a project aimed at bringing Nigerian gas to Europe.

MEND attacked a Shell pipeline in the early hours of Thursday in what it said was a message to Medvedev not to invest in the West African nation.

The attack appears to have been intended to show Russia that if pipelines in a relatively small area of Nigeria cannot be protected, then a project that would see a pipeline run through Nigeria, Niger and Algeria to Europe is doomed to failure.