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Nigerian Army Says Gang Leader, 51 Delta Militants Arrested

   VOA News 20 November 2010
   Militants   wearing   black  masks,  military  fatigues  and  carrying
   Kalashnikov  assault  rifles  and  rocket-propelled  grenade launchers
   patrol the creeks of the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, 24 Feb 2006

Photo: AP

   Militants  patrol  the  creeks  of the Niger Delta area, Nigeria (2006
   file photo)

   The  Nigerian  army says it has arrested a militant gang leader and 51
   of  his  followers  suspected of involvement in a string of oil worker
   kidnappings in the Niger Delta region.
   An  army  spokesman  told  reporters  Saturday  that the suspects were
   rounded  up  by  a  special military task force that polices the delta
   region.
   He  said the gang was behind the kidnapping of 19 oil workers freed by
   security forces earlier this week.
   On  Friday,  the  region's  main  militant group, the Movement for the
   Emancipation  of  the Niger Delta (MEND), threatened to carry out more
   kidnappings  in  the  oil-rich  Niger Delta region, despite a military
   crackdown.
   The  group  said  its  fighters  have  been  instructed  to attack oil
   facilities and kidnap people.
   Royal  Dutch  Shell said Friday that one of its pipelines in the Niger
   Delta  had  been  damaged.   There  was  no  immediate word about who
   carried out the attack.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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