Rebels declare 'all-out war' in Niger Delta

Nigeria's rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on Friday declared "all-out war" in the country's southern oil-producing region after clashes with the security forces. The announcement was coupled with a new warning to foreign oil producers to pull out of the region by midnight (2300 GMT) or risk being caught up in increasing violence. "MEND is declaring an all-out war in the region and call upon all men of fighting age to enlist for our freedom," the group said in a statement to the media. "The Nigerian armed forces today launched indiscriminate aerial bombardment on the defenceless civilians in the Gbaramatu region of Delta State," it charged. An activist and former ethnic Ijaw youth leader, Jonjon Oyeinfie, said "a fierce battle" was raging along the Warri-Forcados river, with the army deploying 13 gunboats and helicopter gunships. A Warri resident reported having seen clouds of smoke rising from the Chanomi Creek area in Gbaramatu. MEND said it captured three army gunboats intact, sank six and destroyed three. "Many soldiers have been killed and the military has made a hasty retreat," the group said in a second statement. An army spokesman, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, denied targeting of civilians, denied that militant fighters had got the better of his men and said operations were still ongoing. "We did not target civilians in the operation because these are the people we are out to defend and protect. Our target is the militants, who are the criminals and we will not stop until they are completely flushed out," he told AFP. He refused to either deny or confirm MEND reports of air attacks but described the operation as "multi-faceted". MEND, which claims to be fighting for autonomy for the region and a greater share of its vast oil resources, had issued two warnings to oil companies on Wednesday and Thursday. "We reiterate once again our directive to all oil companies to evacuate by the deadline of midnight today and cease oil production until further notice. This will be the last time such a warning will be released", the group said Friday. It had said Thursday that from midnight "the entire Niger Delta region will be declared a no-fly zone to helicopters and float planes operating on behalf of oil companies." It also said Thursday that an allied group had abducted 15 foreigners when it hijacked two ships, a claim which the Joint Task Force, the special military unit in the region, partially confirmed. Major oil companies, including Shell and ExxonMobil, have declined to comment on the threats. In the past three and a half years MEND has been behind a series of kidnappings of staff and attacks on oil installations which has reduced the country's oil output by 25 percent. Unrest in the region means Nigeria is struggling to maintain its position as Africa's leading crude exporter. Its oil output has fallen by about a quarter since 2006, largely as a result of unrest in the Delta. Nigeria, a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from crude oil.