Date Published: 11/13/10

Army plan major offensive in Niger Delta, Ask Civilians to leave immediately

Nigeria's military threatened on Saturday to carry out raids against camps of criminal gangs in the creeks of the oil-producing Niger Delta, and told civilians in the vicinity to leave.

Any major offensive by the armed forces would be the first in the Niger Delta, the heartland of the OPEC member's energy industry, since an amnesty program brokered by President Goodluck Jonathan began in August 2009.

Seven expatriate workers were kidnapped from an oil rig off the Niger Delta almost a week ago, while the home of Jonathan's main adviser on the region was attacked with explosives late on Thursday.

"We have observed with concern some criminal acts within the past few days by some people claiming to be militants ... Many of these criminals are known to be hiding in camps within the creeks of the Niger Delta," Chief of Defense Staff Oluseyi Petinrin said in a statement.

"These camps will no longer be tolerated. To avoid any collateral damage, we are seizing this opportunity to instruct all law-abiding citizens who live around the vicinity of these camps to leave immediately," the statement said.

The region had been hit by years of militant attacks on oil infrastructure prior to the amnesty. At its peak, the unrest prevented Nigeria from pumping much above two thirds of its 3 million barrels per day (bpd) oil production capacity and cost it an estimated $1 billion a month in lost revenues.

A resurgence in violence in the region would be an embarrassment for Jonathan, who is the first Nigerian head of state to come from the region and who faces a tough battle in presidential elections expected next April.

The amnesty -- considered one of the main achievements of the current administration -- brought more than a year without significant attacks on Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.

Thousands of gunmen laid down weapons, but the militants were always highly factionalized and new field commanders have started to emerge, security experts say.

FOREIGN HOSTAGES

The main militant group, the Movement of the Emancipation for the Niger Delta (MEND), kidnapped seven foreign crew members from an Afren oil rig on Sunday, including two Americans, two Frenchmen, two Indonesians and one Canadian.

The group said on Friday the seven men were in good health but would be in its custody "for a while."

It said the two Americans and one of the Frenchmen were employees of Swiss-based Transocean, the second Frenchman worked for France's Sodexo, the Indonesians worked for Century Energy Ltd and the Canadian worked for local firm Petroleum Projects International (PPI).

MEND also claimed responsibility for twin car bombs near an independence day parade in Abuja on October 1 which killed at least 10 people, the group's first attack in the capital.

The government has insisted the amnesty is still on track.

But there have been other attacks in the Niger Delta by criminal gangs in recent days, including the attack in Bayelsa state on the home of Timi Alaibe, Jonathan's special adviser on the region who was responsible for implementing the amnesty.

Aides said Alaibe was not at home at the time.

Police in Bayelsa also said on Wednesday they had arrested two men who were trying to rig a car with explosives at a bus station in the state capital Yenagoa. They said the man had admitted carrying out previous attacks for MEND.

Saboteurs also attacked an Agip oil pipeline two weeks ago in Bayelsa, shutting 4,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production.