Rebels attack oil facility in Lagos

Nigeria’s most prominent rebel group says it carried out an “unprecedented attack” on an oil tanker facility close to the main commercial city of Lagos.

“The depot and loading tankers moored at the facility are currently on fire,” said the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend).

Security sources told the BBC they had received reports of an explosion and 30 minutes of gunfire in the city.

If confirmed, this would be a major escalation in Mend’s activities.

Its previous attacks have mostly been much further to the south-east, in Rivers and Delta States.

Such attacks have severely cut Nigeria’s oil output. Production has been cut by a fifth in the last three years partly as a result of violence.

In a statement, Mend said that “heavily armed” men had “carried out an unprecedented attack on the Atlas Cove Jetty in Lagos” at 2230 (2130 GMT) on Sunday.

The jetty is the main entry point for ships entering Nigerian waters from the West and for oil tanker loading.

Leader release

The alleged attack follows claims by Mend in recent days that it had blown up several oil pipelines and captured six foreign crew from onboard an oil tanker.

The government recently offered an amnesty to members of any militant group which laid down its weapons – including Mend leader Henry Okah.

He is facing treason and gun-running charges since his arrest in Angola in 2007. His release has been a key demand of Mend militant group.

On Friday, lawyers for Mr Okah said he had accepted the amnesty offer and his lawyers say he is expected to be freed early this week.

But Mr Okah remains in jail while the terms of his release are negotiated.

Lawyer Femi Falana told the AFP news agency that Mr Okah would appear at a hearing later and that it was “most likely” that the attorney general would decide not to pursue the case against him.

The Mend rebels have been fighting the rights of local people in the Niger Delta and for an increased share of Nigeria’s vast oil wealth.

In Sunday’s statement, the group said the problems facing Nigeria were “nothing to do with militant freedom fighters but with the corrupt political leadership and certain arrogant tribes still living on past glory”.

But the government has in the past dismissed Mend as criminals.

Source: BBC