Nigeria naval response

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LAGOS. — The Nigerian navy has sent two frigates on patrol near a major deep-sea oilfield attacked by rebels last week, a military source said yesterday, a day after the rebels announced a unilateral ceasefire.

The NNS Nwamba and the NNS Ologbo are two small frigates, each mounted with two 30mm cannons and a crew of about 50.

The source said they were deployed on Saturday in waters around the Bonga oilfield, which had been attacked two days earlier by armed members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

Mend, the most high-profile armed group in the oil-rich delta region, declared a unilateral ceasefire to begin midnight today and lasting until "further notice".

"We are respecting an appeal by the Niger Delta elders to give peace and dialogue another chance," Mend said late on Sunday.

The announcement marked an abrupt change of position from an earlier Mend message — entitled "Declaration of War" — in which the group warned foreign oil workers to leave the delta while it settled its scores with the federal government.

Mend, in an email to AFP, attributed its about- turn to concern over "the safety of innocent impoverished villagers who will be caught in a vicious cross fire".

"Attacks will still occur but we will not be ‘responsible’," Mend said, indicating strongly that it will equip and encourage others to carry out attacks during the ceasefire period. — AFP.