LAGOS, Sept 21: The most prominent armed group in southern Nigeria, MEND, declared a ceasefire on Sunday following a week of attacks on oil industry targets after launching an “oil war”.

“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.

The ceasefire comes after MEND claimed a series of attacks targeting Royal Dutch Shell.

Shell confirmed only two of the six attacks claimed by the group, but on Friday declared force majeure on exports from the Bonny terminal to release it from contractual delivery obligations, citing the recent attacks.

On Saturday, MEND said it had destroyed a pipeline run by Shell the previous day.

MEND declared “war” on the oil industry a week ago in what it said was a response to an attack by the Nigerian army on its positions.

It warned in its statement on Sunday that it would end the ceasefire if attacked again.

“We hope that the military has learnt a bitter lesson,” the statement said.

“The next unprovoked attack will start another oil war.” But the decision to announce this new ceasefire marks a sudden change of tone for the movement.

Even on Saturday, announcing their latest attack on a Shell pipeline, they warned they would keep targeting Nigeria’s oil infrastructure until the country’s oil exports were reduced to zero.

Last Sunday, the group had warned off all industry workers from approaching the oil-rich Niger Delta region, and had even threatened attacks on the Chevron, Agbami and FPSO Bonga offshore sites.

The ceasefire came after appeals from political and tribal leaders in the Niger Delta. They ended their last ceasefire, announced on June 24, after three weeks.

MEND contends that the oil wealth of Nigeria -- now Africa’s second largest petroleum exporter after recently being overtaken by Angola -- does not sufficiently benefit the local population.

Little is known about who runs MEND, a well-organised and well-equipped group, which emerged in early 2006.

It has carried out attacks on oil installations on land and offshore, kidnapping foreign oil workers and sabotaging equipment. Its activities are largely responsible for Nigeria’s oil production dropping by 25 per cent.

MEND operates in a zone of creeks and swamps where its knowledge of the terrain gives it an advantage over the army. It presents its men as “freedom fighters” who are reluctant to kill their brothers in the military. The group says its enemies are the federal government and foreign oil companies.

Insecurity in the Delta has caused the multinationals to send most of their expatriate personnel out of the region.

Oil and gas account for 90 per cent of foreign exchange earnings in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with 140 million people.

Production currently ranges between 1.8 million and two million barrels per day compared with 2.6 million bpd two years ago, with unrest having taken a toll on output.—AFP