Nigeria to release militant leader in amnesty deal (Roundup)

Jun 26, 2009, 17:32 GMT

Nairobi/Abuja - The Nigerian government on Friday said it would release a key militant leader just hours after his colleagues ignored an amnesty offer and attacked an offshore oil facility.

Nigeria is keen to end unrest in the Niger Delta, where the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has conducted a long-running campaign of sabotage, cutting Nigeria's oil production by over 20 per cent since early 2006.

President Umaru Yar'Adua said the government would release Henry Okah, who was arrested in Angola in 2007 and is facing charges of treason and gun-running.

Okah would be released if Angola agreed with the move, Yar'Adua said. The release of Okah has long been one of the militants' key demands.

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

The Nigerian army is to cease all anti-militant operations during the 60 days.

Within hours of the offer, though, MEND claimed it 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.

The claim has not been independently verified.

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.

Analysts are concerned 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.

The impetus to resolve the unrest comes just two days after Russian giant Gazprom 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 up to 2.5 billion 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.