Nigerian rebels MEND declare ceasefire

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:32:50 GMT The Nigerian militant MEND group has unilaterally declared ceasefire in southern oil region of the country following a week of assaults.  "Effective 0100 Hrs, September 21, 2008, exactly one week (since) we launched our reprisal, MEND will begin a unilateral ceasefire till further notice," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in a statement released on Sunday.  Last week, the militant group widened the scope of its 'oil war' in southern Nigeria, crippling oil production in the region. MEND announced on Thursday that its members had destroyed a major pipeline belonging to Shell Development Company at the Elem-Kalabari Cawthorne Channel axis in Rivers state of Nigeria.  The Nigerian armed group has also destroyed another three crude oil pipelines in Nigeria's southeastern Rivers State, one at Bakana Front in Degema Local Government Area, one at Nembe creek and the other at Rumuekpe area.  MEND had also destroyed the Orubiri flow station operated by Shell in Rivers state of Nigeria on Tuesday.   The group has targeted foreign oil companies since 2006. It has bombed pipelines and kidnapped hundreds of foreign oil workers, typically releasing them unharmed, sometimes after receiving a ransom payment.   MEND hopes to secure a greater share of oil wealth for people in the Niger Delta, where more than 70 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.  MP/RA, Original source at PressTV.