Nigeria oil rebels warn of unrest

Yenagoa - Militant Nigerians say they are unhappy at the way Nigeria's main opposition party and northern politicians have been criticising President Goodluck Jonathan's record in the run-up to next month's election.

One of them said: "If they don't stop such molestation we will be forced to retaliate."

"We will fight back. If and when we do, Boko Haram will be child's play. We shall prove to them that no-one has a monopoly of violence."

Latest threats

Such threats are not to be taken lightly, with Boko Haram having killed more than 13 000 people since 2009 and the rebels' territorial gains in the north posing an increasing threat to Nigerian sovereignty.

Unrest in the Delta hit production in Africa's leading crude producer and Nigeria, reeling from the current fall in the global price of oil, can ill afford to dismiss the latest threats as mere bluster.

Jonathan, a southern Christian from the Ijaw ethnic group, is credited in the creeks with having brought relative peace, allowing production to rise to 1.75 million barrels a day.

Not to re-elect him would be ungrateful, as the spoils of crude are shared across the whole country, said Annkio Briggs, from the Niger Delta Self-Determination Movement.

Other regions

"If for any reason Jonathan is denied power come 14 February, we will renew our agitation and this time, we shall ask for 100% ownership and control of our resources," she said.

"If our son is not good enough to be president, then our oil cannot be available for other regions.

"We shall tell the Yorubas to go and use their cocoa, the Hausas their groundnut and Igbos their palm produce."