LAGOS, Feb 3 – Nigerian militants on Thursday threatened new attacks on oil facilities, saying they would blow up pipelines and other targets because the government had not addressed "fundamental problems."
The threat came from the Niger Delta Liberation Force, a group believed headed by John Togo, who was among the thousands to sign up for a government amnesty programme in 2009 but who has since returned to militancy.
"We want to call off our declaration for temporal ceasefire in the next seven days, starting from this day of publication, and continue massive attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta," a statement said.
It accused the government of failing to address problems in the deeply impoverished Niger Delta, the country\’s main oil-producing region, and ignoring calls for a conference to look at issues related to the amnesty deal.
Militants have carried out scores of attacks in the Niger Delta in recent years, including kidnappings of foreign oil workers and bombings of pipelines.
The amnesty deal was credited with greatly reducing unrest in the region, but incidents continue to occur.
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