Nigeria’s most prominent militant group threatened on Monday to end a unilateral ceasefire and renew attacks against the oil sector in the delta if the military attacks its camps.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it believed the military was planning to launch an attack on two of its camps in Delta and Bayelsa states in southern Nigeria.
“This will be a big mistake as it will lead to another oil war where we are sure of a landslide victory,” it said in an e-mailed statement.
Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Musa, spokesman for the military task force in Bayelsa, denied any plan to attack militant camps.
“It is always a media war. They are just trying to hype the tension,” he said.
In September MEND staged what it called a six-day “oil war,” attacking oil installations and forcing Royal Dutch Shell to warn it might not be able to meet all of its export commitments from Nigeria.
The group has since declared a ceasefire and repeatedly accused the military of trying to provoke it into confrontation.