My Oil War

Nigerian Militants Announce Cease-Fire in Oil-Rich Niger Delta

By Karl Maier

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria's main militant group announced a cease-fire ``until further notice'' in the oil-rich Niger River delta region.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it decided to halt a week of attacks on Africa's biggest oil industry because of pleas from prominent people from the region.

``We hope that the military has learnt a bitter lesson,'' MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in an e-mailed statement today. ``The next unprovoked attack will start another oil war that will be so ferocious that it will dim the pleas of the elders.''

MEND declared an ``oil war'' in the southern delta, which accounts for almost all of the country's oil, after the military launched an offensive on Sept. 13 against its positions. In the past week the group has attacked pipelines and oil pumping stations run by the Nigerian units of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp. and Eni SpA.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karl Maier in Rome at kmaier2@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 21, 2008 04:36 EDT



I follow the news in Nigeria.
I never hear of attacks by the government.
Still, I hear nothing of deaths and conditions.
We should be hearing about deaths and conditions. Not pipelines.