Nigerian militants reinstate ceasefire

Oct 26, 2009, 6:06 GMT

   Nairobi/Abuja - Nigeria's main militant group has indefinitely suspended attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta to allow peace talks with the government.

   The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has conducted a long-running campaign of sabotage, cutting the West African nation's oil production by more than 20 per cent since early 2006 and helping drive up oil prices globally.

   'To encourage the process of dialogue between the government and the team that MEND has selected to negotiate its demands for a lasting peace in the Niger Delta region, an indefinite cease-fire has been ordered,' MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in a statement e-mailed Sunday.

   Many of MEND's commanders and rank-and-file troops already have taken advantage of a government amnesty to lay down their arms over the past few months.

   But a MEND faction led by Henry Okah - a militant who was released this year as part of the amnesty - had vowed to continue fighting, accusing the government of not being serious in its promises to address the root causes of the conflict.

   However, Okah met Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua Tuesday, and Gbomo said the government had shown it was ready to 'engage in serious and meaningful dialogue with every group or individual towards achieving a lasting peace in the Niger Delta.'

   Militants operating in the delta said they were fighting for a larger share of the oil wealth for local residents, who complain the oil industry has ruined their agriculture and fishing livelihoods.

   However, illegal bunkering - the practice of tapping into oil pipelines and selling the crude on the black market - helped keep the conflict alive.

   The government has promised to bring millions of dollars into the region to help bring people out of poverty.