No more pipeline bombings, Nigeria militants say

AP

13 May 2011

 No more pipeline bombings, Nigeria militants say

Militants in Nigeria's oil-rich delta say they will not bomb pipelines, despite a military crackdown on militant camps.

A Niger Delta Liberation Force spokesman said in a Friday statement that they would "not let President Goodluck down by engaging in pipeline bombing" after an April 16 vote made Goodluck Jonathan the first elected president from the oil-producing region.

He said a military operation in Nigeria's southern delta was unprovoked.

The army said militants fired at soldiers during a routine patrol in Ayakoromor village Wednesday.

Militants began a campaign of kidnapping and pipeline bombings in 2006, upset over pollution and the resource-rich region's poverty, but a 2009 government-sponsored amnesty fractionalized them and reduced attacks.