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Last known rebel leader disarms in Nigeria's delta
Sun Oct 4, 2009 2:56pm EDT
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By Segun Owen
OPOROZA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's last prominent militant leader agreed to halt fighting in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta and surrendered his weapons on Sunday in return for an unconditional pardon.
Tompolo, whose gunmen were behind many of the attacks against Nigeria's oil industry, handed over rocket launchers, machine guns and explosives to Defense Minister Godwin Abbe at a ceremony in his camp in Oporoza in the creeks of Delta state.
"It is an act of patriotism that Tompolo and his group surrendered their arms," Abbe said.
"The time has come for us to settle down and find solutions to what led to the crisis in the region. Today marks the beginning of the development of the Niger Delta."
Tompolo late on Saturday accepted President Umaru Yar'Adua's amnesty offer which expires at the end of Sunday in the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry. Two commanders in the eastern delta laid down weapons on Saturday.
Thousands of people gathered in Oporoza and Delta state's capital Warri to witness the disarmament ceremony.
Tompolo was short of words during most of the hand over, able to utter only "all is well, all is well" to the crowd before bursting into tears.
"We came because we want peace," said Chief Andrew Anegba, who was among the thousands gathered in Warri to greet Tompolo before the ceremony.
"The last militant groups are giving up arms, and that means peace is coming back," said Anegba, a traditional Ijaw ethnic community leader from Ogbe-Ijoh, close to where security forces used helicopters and gunboats to attack Tompolo's camps in May.
Yar'Adua's amnesty offer is the most concerted effort so far to bring peace to the Niger Delta.
Unrest in the region has prevented Nigeria, which vies with Angola as Africa's biggest oil producer, from pumping much above two-thirds of its production capacity.
It also costs the country $1 billion a month in lost revenues, according to the central bank, and has helped to push up global energy prices.
Tompolo, whose full name is Government Ekpemupolo, was one of the leaders of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) based in Warri and responsible for shutting down a large chunk of oil output from the western delta in 2003.
He is believed to have been important in drawing together factions which formed the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the region's main militant group.
Despite Nigeria's oil riches, the vast majority of its 140 million people live on $2 a day or less and some of the most acute poverty is in the villages of the delta. The militants say they are fighting for a fairer share of the oil wealth. Continued...
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Last known rebel leader disarms in Nigeria's delta
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