NIGER DELTA: MEND Ends Cease Fire, Threatens Attacks

San Francisco Jan 29, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s major rebel group in the Niger Delta, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said on Saturday morning that it has ended the cease fire deal it signed with the central government asking all oil companies operating in the area to evacuate immediately.

"The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta warns all oil companies to halt operations as any operational installation attacked will be burnt to the ground," according to an email statement.

The fighters said they could no longer trust the government in their negotiations even as the country enters its third month since President Musa Yar’Adua left Abuja for a Saudi Arabian hospital.

"It is sufficiently clear at this point in time the government of Nigeria has no intentions of considering the demands made by this group for the control of the resources and land."

"All companies related to the oil industry in the Niger Delta should prepare for an all-out onslaught against their installations and personnel," spokesperson Gbomo Jomo said in the email.

MEND’s attack on oil facilities in the region has cost the central government billions of dollars in revenue and millions of dollars in cost for repairs.