afrol News, 10 July - Nigeria's main militant group has shown discontent with a pledge of British government to back up Nigeria in securing the country’s rich oil region.

In protest to British involvement in the delta’s security normalization, militants are threatening to call off two weeks cease-fire.

Britain’s pledge follows a call by Nigerian president Umaru Yar'Adua for international support to curb oil smuggling which is fuelling unrest in the country's southern Niger Delta.

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) spokesperson Jomo Gbomo said the group would resume attacks in Nigeria's oil-rich river delta region from midnight on Saturday. Activities by MEND with other militant groups, helped cut more than a quarter of Nigeria's crude oil exports since 2006 by attacking pipelines and other operations which contributed worldwide surge in the price of crude.

The leader said they were calling off the ceasefire because of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's promise at G8 summit in Japan yesterday to support Nigerian government in its efforts to end violence in the oil-producing region.

The group declared a unilateral cease-fire days after it had conducted one of its most successful raids on June 19, attacking Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Bonga deep-water oilfield located 120 kilometers offshore and cutting production of 190,000 barrels of oil a day.

“Unrest in the region is as a result of over five decades of oil exploration that has developed other parts of Nigeria to the detriment of the environment and people of the Niger Delta,'' Gbomo said.

“Should Mr Gordon Brown make good his threat to support this criminality for the sake of oil, UK citizens and interests in Nigeria will suffer the consequences,'' he added, saying Niger Delta has been the victim of five decades of exploitation that has seen other regions of the country benefit over them.

International leaders are under pressure to try to help curb global oil prices, which surged to a record high above $145 a barrel last week, placing further strain on the fragile world economy.

Nigerian government plans to hold peace summit to try to resolve the region's problems reached a stalemate when the government's choice of mediator was rejected and condemned by Delta activists.

UN Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari has come under pressure to quit the job because of his role in supporting the execution of Delta activist Ken Saro Wiwa in 1995.

Nigerian which has been battling with insurgency of armed groups, saying they are fighting for a greater share of oil wealth for the region has now started regrouping and re-arming in preparation for weekend attack in the oil region.

Conflict in the region surged in the early 1990s due to tensions between foreign oil corporations and different ethnic groups in the region, who felt they were being exploited
and saw their natural environment destroyed, particularly the Ogoni as well as the Ijaw in the late 1990s.

Unrests have continued throughout the 1990s, persisting until 2007, despite Nigeria's conversion to democratic rule and election of President Obasanjo government in 1999.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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