Nigerian oil delta militants kill 2

By Austin Ekeinde

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) – Nigerian militants
killed two civilians in a car bomb attack on an army barracks
in the southern city of Port Harcourt, extending a four-month
onslaught against the world’s eighth-largest oil exporter.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND), whose attacks have cut Nigerian oil exports by a
quarter, said in an email they detonated 30 kg (66 lb) of
dynamite using a cellular telephone on Wednesday night.

The use of the car bomb was unusual, and the militants
threatened to stage more such attacks on the military, oil
installations and individuals.

“There was an explosion at 7.30 yesterday which resulted in
the death of two persons and six people were injured,”
Brigadier General Samuel Salihu told a news conference on
Thursday.

Another military spokesman said there were no military
personnel among the casualties.

MEND, which has demanded more local autonomy over the Niger
Delta’s oil wealth, said the bomb had been concealed in a
Mercedes Benz. The explosion blew the car 20 meters from its
original site, on the side of a road in the Bori Camp barracks.

MEND said the attack was “symbolic rather than strategic”
and served as a warning that the military was unable to protect
itself, let alone workers at oilfields dotted around the vast
maze of mangrove-lined creeks in Nigeria’s far south.

The group has waged a four-month campaign of sabotage and
kidnapping against Africa’s top oil producer, forcing companies
to cut production by 550,000 barrels per day and helping drive
world oil prices to record highs.

It released the last of its Western oil worker hostages in
March after holding two Americans and a Briton for five weeks.

MORE ATTACKS

The militants have warned all oil workers to leave the
delta and vowed to halt exports completely.

A little-known group that first appeared in December, MEND
is a coalition of militias which the government has branded
“rascals” and accused of involvement in a lucrative trade in
stolen crude oil.

But its demands — which also include the release of two
jailed leaders from the region and compensation for oil spills
– are shared by many activists in the area, where most people
live in poverty despite the riches being pumped from their
land.

“In the coming weeks, we will carry out similar attacks
against relevant oil industry targets and individuals,” MEND
said in an email.

Prominent leaders of the Ijaw tribe, who have taken
advantage of the crisis to make separate demands, would also be
targeted in these attacks, MEND added.

President Olusegun Obasanjo tried to address some of the
grievances this week by promising to build a $1.8 billion
highway across the delta, a region almost the size of England,
and create 20,000 jobs.

MEND rejected the initiative and has insisted on its demand
for local control of the delta’s oil resources.

Analysts link the violence to uncertainty ahead of next
year’s presidential election. Different tribal and regional
groups believe it’s their turn to run multi-ethnic Nigeria
after eight years of Obasanjo, a Yoruba from the southwest.

These hopefuls have been infuriated by a powerful campaign
to amend the constitution to allow Obasanjo to stay in power
for a third consecutive term.