/ 2 November 2007

Nigerian oil rebels feud before peace talks

Two prominent rebels fighting for autonomy in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta have traded insults in a public dispute that has exposed deep divisions before peace talks with the government. The row between the two militia leaders is apparently over money, weapons and strategy, but analysts say it is a power struggle that will strengthen the government's hand.

Two prominent rebels fighting for autonomy in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta have traded insults in a public dispute that has exposed deep divisions before peace talks with the government.

The row between the two militia leaders is apparently over money, weapons and strategy, but analysts say it is a power struggle that will strengthen the government’s hand by isolating militants who want to continue two years of violence that have hit oil exports.

On one side is Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, an outspoken militia leader who fought sporadic battles against troops from a delta hideaway in 2004. He agreed to disarm in 2005, only to be arrested on treason charges and jailed for two years until June this year, when he agreed to join peace talks.

On the other side is Henry Okah, an arms dealer based in South Africa who took the helm of the struggle after Asari’s detention. His identity only became public when he was arrested on arms-trafficking charges in Angola in September.

Okah is believed to have coordinated many of the kidnappings of foreign workers and attacks on Africa’s largest oil industry since late 2005. They helped win worldwide attention for the poverty and neglect in the delta and also drove up oil prices.

Guns and money

Now out on bail, Asari has issued a 19-page account of his arms purchases and other dealings with Okah, introducing him as a ”bloodthirsty criminal”. It was published in two newspapers in Port Harcourt last month.

Asari accuses Okah of selling guns to both sides in the conflict, robbing banks to raise money, plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea and accepting bribes from the governor of Rivers state to prevent attacks on oil facilities there.

Okah, in an Angolan jail, was unable to respond directly to the allegations.

But a spokesperson for his group said: ”Asari is trying to cover his own insecurity by being critical, cynical, caustic and snippy towards Henry Okah.”

”It shows the level of desperation he is going through as he has lost relevance,” the spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.

Militancy in the delta has never been easy to distinguish from crime. Kidnappings usually end with ransom payments while some militants also engage in bank robberies and oil theft.

Okah’s group, known as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), had always demanded Asari’s freedom despite their worsening relationship in the last two years.

Mend suspended attacks with the inauguration of President Umaru Yar’Adua in May to allow the new government a chance to make peace. But the group called off the ceasefire after Okah was jailed in Angola in September, accusing Nigeria of being behind the arrest. The government wants him tried in Nigeria. — Reuters