Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua on Thursday offered militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta an amnesty in a bid to halt attacks on global energy majors that have badly hit Nigeria's image abroad.
"I hereby grant amnesty and unconditional pardon to all persons who have directly or indirectly participated in the commission of offences associated with militant activities in the Niger Delta," read the amnesty statement.
The statement said the amnesty would run out on October 4 but in a separate speech announcing the initiative the president said the offer was open for just 60 days, making it unclear how long exactly the amnesty will last.
Presidency officials told AFP they would explain the discrepancy on Friday.
Yar'Adua urged the militants, who have waged violent attacks on Nigeria's multi-billion-dollar oil and gas industry since the beginning of 2006 in a quest for a fairer share of the country's oil wealth, to lay down their arms.
"The offer of amnesty is predicated on the willingness and readiness of the militants to give up all illegal arms in their possession, completely renounce militancy in all its ramifications unconditionally," he said in his speech.
In return for giving up arms, an amnesty from prosecution would apply to militants who hand themselves in while a presidential pardon would be extended to those already being prosecuted, the text of the declaration explained.
Yar'Adua also made more conciliatory comments, saying that the government would do more to help the Niger Delta and that many militants were young men "whose energies could be harnessed" to develop the region and the country.
Unrest in the region has helped substantially reduce Nigeria's oil output from around 2.6 million barrels a day in 2006 to some 1.8 million barrels today, putting pressure on crucial export earnings.
Nigeria was Africa's leading oil producer but it is currently neck-and-neck with Angola since the troubles in the Niger Delta started.
The amnesty call came shortly after the most active armed group MEND carried out a pre-dawn attack against Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch Shell's facilities.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta MEND said the attack was to coincide with a visit to Nigeria on Wednesday by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during which major energy investment deals were struck.
MEND said the attack was on the Bille-Krakrama pipeline, which feeds the key Bonny export terminal in southern Rivers State. Shell confirmed it had received reports of an attack on its pipeline at Krakrama.
"This is the fate that awaits the gas pipelines you plan to invest in in Nigeria if justice is not factored in the whole process," MEND said in a message to Medvedev sent to the media.
Shell spokeswoman Caroline Wittgen said: "The facility has been shut down and an emergency team has been mobilised to limit the environmental impact."
MEND stages regular attacks on oil installations as part of its campaign for a fairer share out of oil wealth for local inhabitants of the Delta region.
The past two weeks have seen upsurge in attacks on key oil pipelines and facilities operated by Shell, US major Chevron and Agip, the Nigerian subsidiary of the Italian oil group Eni in the volatile Niger Delta.
Glastonbury Festival in England on June 25.REUTERS/Luke MacGregor
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