Nigerian leader meets Okah

2009-10-21 11:54

Abuja - Nigeria's president held talks with the longtime leader of the country's main militant group for the first time since his release from jail after agreeing to disarm as part of an amnesty deal, a presidential spokesperson said.

President Umaru Yar'Adua met with Henry Okah on Monday, presidential spokesperson Olusegun Adeniyi said.

"Mr Okah came to the villa... on the invitation of the president and they held a very fruitful discussion," Adeniyi said on Tuesday.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta called Monday's meeting "a positive step towards constructive dialogue and change".

The meeting comes after Nigerian government officials said more than 8 000 militants - including several top leaders - have taken part in an amnesty programme that began in August and required participants to disarm.

A positive step

Okah was freed from jail in July after the nation's attorney general dropped the treason and gun running charges he was facing. Earlier this year, Mend had said Okah was suffering from a kidney ailment and needed urgent medical treatment abroad.

The militant group declared a 60-day cease-fire on July 15, saying the government had met one of its demands by releasing Okah. In mid-September the group extended its cease-fire by one month, saying it hoped the truce would help facilitate talks with the government.

The militants had been attacking oil installations, kidnapping petroleum company employees and fighting government troops since January 2006. The attacks from Mend and unrest in the Niger Delta region had cut Nigeria's oil production by about a million barrels a day, allowing Angola to overtake it as Africa's top oil producer.

Mend spokesperson Jomo Gbomo cautiously welcomed Monday's meeting and called it a positive step.

Cessation of hostilities

"It may lead to cessation of hostilities," Gbomo said. "We are still waiting to be fully briefed by Okah before making our position formal."

The militants have said they are fighting to force the federal government to send more oil-industry funds to the southern region that remains poor despite five decades of oil production.

The government has acknowledged the grievances of many in the Niger Delta, but denounces the militants as criminals who steal crude oil from Nigeria's wells and pipelines and profit by selling it overseas.

Mohammed Barkindo, the managing director of Nigeria's state oil company, said on Monday that the government is looking at ways to empower impoverished communities in the Niger Delta.

- SAPA