Niger Delta Militant Group To End Armed Activities-Spokesman

Dow Jones

16 May 2011

Niger Delta Militant Group To End Armed Activities-Spokesman

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- A key militant group in Nigeria's Niger Delta is ready to end armed activities and surrender its weapons, a spokesman for the group said Monday, after its camp came under attack by the army last week.

In an e-mailed statement, a spokesman for the Niger Delta Liberation Force said it had called its fighters "in our camps...to vacate the creeks" after negotiating an amnesty with the government.

Fighting last week between the army and the militant group, led by leader John Togo, had led to renewed fears of disruptions in Africa's largest oil-producing region.

But the militants' statement said "NDLF armoury is still intact and shall be surrendered unconditionally at federal government's demand for permanent peace in the creeks."

The militants had returned to the creeks after reneging on a previous amnesty deal but many of their former comrades had alleged they were mostly involved in criminal activities.