ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s president offered amnesty Thursday to this oil-rich West African nation’s militants if they hand over weapons and renounce armed struggle. The offer came hours after militants claimed another attack on a Royal Dutch Shell
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s president offered amnesty Thursday to this oil-rich West African nation’s militants if they hand over weapons and renounce armed struggle. The offer came hours after militants claimed another attack on a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline and warned Russia not to invest here. There was no immediate response by the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta to President Umaru Yar’Adua’s offer. But in April, the group dismissed previous government talk of amnesty as unrealistic. Yar’Adua said the amnesty offer 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." "It is my fervent hope that all militants in the Niger Delta will take advantage of this amnesty and come out to join (us) in the quest for the transformation of our dear nation," he said. "The offer of amnesty is open to all militants for a period of 60 days." Earlier Thursday, militants said they attacked the Bille-Krakama pipeline in Rivers state. There was no independent confirmation of the assault. The reported attack occurred hours after a visit by Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev, who on Wednesday signed energy deals to build new export pipelines with Nigeria. In a statement addressed to Medvedev, the militant group said "this is the fate that awaits the gas pipelines you plan to invest in Nigeria if justice is not factored in the whole process." Last week, the group attacked at least two other Shell pipelines in the same area. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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