Nigeria’s shadowy oil rebels
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which has threatened “total war” in Nigeria’s main oil-producing region and is behind the recent kidnapping of oil workers is a shadowy group, about which little is known. The BBC’s Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar managed to meet one of the group’s leaders, who used the alias Major-General Godswill Tamuno. But he refused to be interviewed on tape or for his location to be disclosed. Our correspondent says the “general” was not visibly armed and you could easily walk past him in the streets without noticing him. Mend’s leaders like to be faceless, our reporter says, and they usually send statements to the media via e-mail. Yet their threats and attacks on oil installations in the region have caused a 15% cut in Nigeria’s oil output and a surge in world oil prices. Full Story