Three top Nigerian militant leaders in the volatile oil hub of the Niger Delta gave up their weapons along with thousands of fighters on Saturday under a government amnesty.
A senior commander of the main armed group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) surrendered his weapons in the oil city of Port Harcourt, on the eve of the expiry date of the amnesty extended to rebels who have wrought havoc on Nigeria’s oil industry in recent years.
“I Farah Dagogo, overall field commander for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta accept together with field commanders in Rivers state, the presidential offer of amnesty to militants who lay down their weapons,” he said.
PHOTO: AFP
“We are surrendering all weapons under our direct control,” Dagogo said in a statement.
Another militant leader Ateke Tom and about 5,000 militants disarmed at a beach ceremony in the same city.
A third top militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as “Tompolo,” accepted the amnesty offer during a meeting with Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua late on Saturday.
In accepting the amnesty, Tompolo promised Yar’Adua his support “to achieve the dreams of this country.”
Tompolo was the third key militant leader linked to MEND who have taken up on the government offer for unconditional pardon in a bid to end the unrest in the oil producing region.
With militant attacks knocking Nigeria from its position as Africa’s top oil exporter — daily production has slid to 1.7 million barrels per day from 2.6 million in January 2006, Yar’Adua announced in June the amnesty offer.
The militants, which took up arms in 2006, claimed they are fighting for a fairer distribution of the nation’s oil wealth for the impoverished people of the Niger Delta, where most of the oil is drilled but which has seen little money from the country’s top export earner.
Along with the amnesty, the government has pledged to develop the Niger Delta region. “We will do all within our powers to ensure that our land shall be a source of peace and development, and not a cause for crisis … That our waters and oil shall be a blessing and not a curse,” Yar’Adua said.
The government said the amnesty was open to about 10,000 rebels.
The amnesty deadline was yesterday and Nigerian Defense Minister Godwin Abbe made an 11th-hour appeal for militants to give up arms before midnight.
MEND, which has dismissed the amnesty as a charade, said it has replaced its military command.
“All commanders have been replaced ... and the next phase of our campaign will commence soon,” MEND said in a statement.
Its leader, Henry Okah, who was freed in July as part of a government amnesty deal offered to the rebels after treason charges against him were dropped, said unrest was likely to continue in the region after the amnesty deadline expires because the root cause of the violence had not been addressed.
Earlier this week MEND named a team of mediators, including prominent writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, to open talks with the authorities.
Laying down his arms, Tom, the leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante, an ethnic Ijaw militia group, warned that his fighters would resume attacks if authorities fail to make good on their pledge to develop the region.
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