Nigeria Delta rebels agree truce
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-02 13:33

The Nigerian government has confirmed reports that rebel groups in the country's main oil producing region have agreed to a ceasefire.

Militia leader Mujahid Dokubo Asari announced the truce on Wednesday.

Rebel leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force is surrounded by his soldiers as they prepare for war in the creeks of the Niger Delta in Nigeria September 28, 2004. [Reuters/file]

Mr Asari, had threatened "all out war" if demands for self-determination for the Ijaw people and a greater share of the country's oil wealth were not met.

Earlier, President Olusegun Obasanjo said he was confident recent violence in the delta could be contained.

Mr Asari is the leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force. Officials reject his claim to be fighting for self-determination and dismiss him as an oil thief.

But despite going into hiding in the delta earlier this year Mr Asari was invited to the capital Abuja for the latest talks.

The area has also seen seven years of ethnic fighting between Ijaw and Itsekiri militias.

Production threat

On Wednesday the rebel leader described the truce as "a temporary agreement not a ceasefire".

Nigerian rebels of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force patrol the creeks of the Niger Delta near Port Harcourt in Nigeria September 28, 2004. [Reuters/file]

A statement on Friday by the Nigerian presidency said Mr Asari had also agreed to disarm and disband his militia, but this has not been confirmed by the rebels.

"The groups affirm commitment to the peace offer by the president, promise to cease all hostilities against themselves and all economic and social interests of the Nigerian state," the statement, quoted by AFP news agency, said.

Mr Asari had threatened foreign workers and said all foreign oil companies should cease all production by Friday or face "all-out war".

The threat was seen as one reason why world oil prices hit record highs of $50 a barrel this week.

In an Independence Day address on Friday, President Obasanjo referred to the rebels as "rascally elements", but said a rapprochement was taking place.

The Nigerian president called on state officials to be more responsive to the plight of the people they were elected to govern.

Nigeria is the world's seventh largest exporter of oil, but 70% of the population live in poverty.

Mr Asari took to the creeks of River State earlier this year, and hundreds of people have died in subsequent clashes with the police, navy and rival gangs.

Fighting has intensified in the last month since the military launched a major operation against the group.

Last week, Shell pulled out more than 200 of its non-essential staff from two gas and oil fields because of heightened tensions.

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