Reuters: Nigerian militants vow to cripple oil exports: “A Nigerian ethnic militant group believed to be behind a spate of attacks and kidnappings issued a statement on Monday vowing to totally destroy Nigeria's capacity to export oil.”: Monday 16 Jan 2006

16 Jan 2006 09:59:58 GMT

Source: Reuters

LAGOS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A Nigerian ethnic militant group believed to be behind a spate of attacks and kidnappings issued a statement on Monday vowing to totally destroy Nigeria's capacity to export oil.

The email statement from the group known as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta also said the government was not able to protect its oil platforms and workers, and that workers should leave the delta or die.

"Our aim is to totally destroy the capacity of the Nigerian government to export oil," the statement said.

Addressing oil companies in the delta, it said: "It must be clear that the Nigerian government cannot protect your workers or assets. Leave our land while you can or die in it."

The group is believed to be holding four foreign oil workers hostage having abducted them from a Shell-run offshore oilfield on Wednesday.

A senior oil industry official told Reuters that Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> was considering pulling more staff out of the western delta after four attacks in five days, raising the prospect of more supply cuts from the OPEC oil exporter.

It evacuated about 330 workers from four flow stations on Sunday after an attack on a flow station which killed six people.

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