Military operations 'ceased'
2004-10-04 11:49
Port Harcourt - Nigerian military officials said on Monday they had ceased military operations in the oil rich Niger Delta following a peace deal between rival gangs but there were reports of fresh killings in one village.
"I would not say we have suspended operations, but we have been asked as you say in the military to observe a marking time or simply put, hold up action," Captain Onyeama Kanu, spokesperson for the Joint Task Force (JTF) patrolling the Niger Delta region, said.
"What this implies is that we will remain where we are, but have to be vigilant as we continue to monitor the situation," he said.
The government deployed troops to the region early last month to end gang violence in Port Harcourt, the hub of Nigeria's oil industry, and its surrounding villages.
The unrest, according to Amnesty International, claimed some 500 lives in one month alone, but the government said only 13 were killed.
The two gangs fighting over oil in the region signed a ceasefire and disarmament agreement in Abuja on Friday after months of violence.
Mujahid Dokubo Asari, leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and Akete Tom, leader of the rival Niger Delta Vigilante Service, signed the deal at the behest of President Olusegun Obasanjo after three days of talks.
Both factions hail from the Ijaw people, the delta's eight million-strong dominant ethnic group.
Further talks still to resume
Further talks are expected to resume on October 8 in the Nigerian capital, government officials and rebel leaders said.
But despite the cessation of hostilities by the two groups, military sources told on Monday of an outbreak of violence at the weekend in the Ijaw village of Ke, near Bille.
"A yet to be identified armed gang invaded the village and killed several people. The report was brought to our base but we could not act on it," a senior military officer, who asked not to be named, said from the JTF base in Buguma, west of Port Harcourt.
The militia groups denied responsibility for the attack on Monday.
"Neither our group nor Ateke's was involved. It was an internal dispute in the village," Edipade Colombus, the commander of Asari's groupsaid.
"We heard the report of the incident while we were addressing a rally at Amadi-Ama yesterday and we are sending a delegation to the place this morning to investigate the matter," he said.
"As law-abiding citizens, we will continue to comply with the Abuja ceasefire agreement unless the other group breaks it," he added.
The police in Port Harcourt could not immediately confirm the incident.
The gang fighting in the delta, which accounts for Nigeria's daily output of 2.3 million barrels, led to concern in the international oil market. Asari's group threatened last week to go to war if their demands for a bigger slice of Nigeria's oil wealth, greater autonomy for ethnic Ijaw people and a national debate on Nigeria's problems were not met.