Nigerian militants blow up pipelines!

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it had blown up pipelines operated by the Anglo-Dutch giant Shell and Italian group Agip in a pre-dawn attack in the Bayelsa state.

MEND, the best equipped of a number of rebel groups operating in the restive southern oil hub, has claimed at least seven attacks since the government's amnesty offer on June 25.

The militants say are on a campaign to cripple the oil industry until their complaints of injustices and inequitable distribution of the oil wealth are answered.

Nigeria's oil unions on Wednesday urged oil workers to be more vigilant in their duty posts as militants stepped up violence in the volatile region despite a government amnesty. Both unions said they hoped a government amnesty offer to rebels in the region would "yield the desired results."

President Umaru Yar'Adua last month declared an unconditional pardon for armed groups who say they are fighting for a greater share of the country's oil wealth for the local people of the Niger Delta.

Although the amnesty offer remains open until October 4, the insurgence has persisted.

Militant attacks in the region have targeted Shell, Agip and the American group Chevron. Hundreds of workers in the oil industry and its support sectors have also been kidnapped.

This week MEND abducted six foreign workers -- two Russians, two Filipinos, a Ukranian and an Indian national -- crew members of a chemical tanker.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claimed Wednesday that some of the armed youths who responded to the amnesty offer, have been arrested by a special joint military and police unit deployed in the region to quell the violence.

The violence in the Niger Delta has cost Nigeria hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude each day. Coupled with global crude price fluctuations, the toll on Nigeria's economy has been substantial.

The unrest has cut Nigeria's crude output by around 30 percent from around 2.6 million barrels per day in 2006 to 1.8 million now. Africa's most populous country relies on oil for more than 90 percent of its export earnings.

Lamido Sanusi, the central bank chief of Nigeria, the world's eighth oil exporter, on Tuesday said the country's foreign exchange reserves had plummeted by about 10 billion dollars in six months to 43.19 billion dollars as of last week.