Niger Delta rebels sign ceasefire, disarmament deal: officials

ABUJA (AFP) - Rebels in the Niger Delta, where unrest sent world oil prices soaring this week, promised to stop fighting government forces and hand in their weapons, the Nigerian president`s office said.
"The groups affirm commitment to the peace offer by the president, promise to cease all hostilities against themselves and all economic and social interests of the Nigerian state," it said in a statement.
The rebels threatened earlier this week to go to war if their demands for a bigger slice of Nigeria`s oil wealth, greater autonomy for the Ijaw people -- the delta`s dominant tribe -- and a national debate on Nigeria`s problems were not met.
Mujahid Dokubo Asari, leader of the People`s Volunteer Force (NDPVF), began talks Wednesday with officials from President Olusegun Obasanjo`s government ahead of an October 1 deadline set by his group for oil multinationals and foreigners to quit the Niger Delta.
Asari and Ateke Tom, leader of the rival Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV) group, both signed the ceasefire deal, in which they promise "the disbandment of all militias and militant groups as well as total disarmament," according to the statement from the presidency.
"It is a victory for my people," Asari told AFP by telephone.
"It is the first time that the president and the government of Nigeria recognised that nationalities in Nigeria have the right to ask for resources control and self-determination. It is a giant step forward," he added.
He said after a seven-hour meeting Friday that the agreement would take effect immediately.
"When there is a dialogue process the most important thing is that your grievances are addressed and that we discussed it.
"You cannot get everything on the same day," he added, referring to the October 1 deadline set by his group for oil multinationals and foreigners to quit the Niger Delta.
Fighting between the army and militias in the Niger Delta, which has been going on for more than a year, intensified in recent months. Violence escalated in August when the army launched attacks on rebel camps.
Some 500 people have died in unrest in the region in recent weeks, according to Amnesty International, but the government said only 13 were killed.
The unrest helped send oil prices on an upward spiral which saw them burst through the 50-dollar-a-barrel barrier on Tuesday, but drop back below the crucial mark when the peace talks began.
They closed above 50 dollars a barrel for the first time in New York trading Friday, as traders fretted about Nigerian oil production amid the threatened rebel uprising.
The government of Nigeria`s Rivers State which borders Delta welcomed the ceasefire and disarmament agreement.
"It is a welcome development. The peace deal is a follow-up to a previous initiative of the Rivers State government asking armed gangs to stop killing themselves and confronting the federal government," state government spokesman Emmanuel Okah told AFP.
"The government is prepared to integrate them (Asari and Tom) into the larger society but they have to faithfully implement the agreement by disarming and disbanding their groups. They have to also surrender their weapons," he said.
The government would grant the rebels "amnesty from prosecution" if they did not back down on the agreement, adding that previous ceasefire pacts had been violated.
Recently, the Rivers State parliament passed a law, prescribing 10 years in prison for anyone found guilty of armed violence.
The Niger Delta accounts for the bulk of Nigeria`s crude output of 2.3 million barrels per day. Nigeria, Africa`s largest oil exporter and the seventh largest in the world, derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from oil.
Most residents of the Niger Delta live in abject poverty and have benefitted little from the oil reserves in the region of creeks and mangrove swamps.
Officials say Nigeria has earned over 360 billion dollars (290 billion euros) since oil was discovered in the southern Rivers State by Anglo-Dutch giant Shell in 1957. But today the country`s external debts stand at a staggering 32 billion dollars.
Despite the billions earned from oil, Nigeria, which on Friday celebrated the 44th anniversary of its independence from Britain, is listed among the 25 poorest countries in the world and placed 146th out of 162 on the United Nations Development Programme index of social indicators.
On the World Health Organisation index the west African country occupies 186th position out of 192 member countries for the state of its health infrastructures.