Nigeria intends to keep its October 4 amnesty deadline, the defence minister said, rejecting a request from rebel leaders in the oil-producing Niger Delta for more time for peace talks before handing over their arms. President Umaru Yar'Adua has offered an unconditional pardon to militants who give up arms by the deadline, the most serious attempt yet to resolve years of unrest which has prevented Nigeria from pumping above two-thirds of its oil capacity.
But rebel leaders Ateke Tom and Government Tompolo, who are commanders in the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), urged Abuja last week to extend the deadline by three months to allow for dialogue on demands including a partial withdrawal of military forces from the area.
"To all those in doubt, the deadline for amnesty is Sunday, October 4, and the government does not intend to extend it," Defence Minister Godwin Abbe told amnesty participants at a ceremony in Nigeria's oil hub Port Harcourt on Thursday. "Anybody or group of militants who fail to surrender their arms after the expiration of the amnesty period will be on his own after the October 4 deadline," he added.
MEND, responsible for attacks that have wrought havoc on Africa's biggest energy industry over the last three years, extended a two-month-old cease-fire last week by 30 days. The militant group said it would allow more time for talks but threatened attacks on the oil industry if substantive negotiations were not held. Security sources fear that if peace efforts fail this could give the military the green light to take a tougher approach, radicalising militants and provoking a new wave of violence that could further disrupt oil output.
Government officials have dismissed such fears, saying it had no immediate plans for military action against militants that fail to hand over their weapons by the October deadline. Around 6,000 gunmen have surrendered their arms since Yar'Adua first offered the amnesty in June, presidential adviser Timi Alaibe told Reuters last week. In return, the government has promised to provide the ex-militants with a stipend, training and job opportunities.
Around 300 "reformed militants" took part in a graduation ceremony organised by the Rivers state government on Thursday in Port Harcourt and will soon begin their rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. But things have not gone as smoothly in other parts of the Niger Delta.
Hundreds of rebels in Bayelsa's state capital Yenegoa have protested off-and-on for the past month over the government's failure to pay them for handing over their weapons. "The boys are protesting against the federal government for refusing to pay them their 10,500 naira ($70) stipend per week and for not giving them jobs," said a Bayelsa state government official, who wished not to be named.
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