Nigeria: Militants Threaten Retaliatory War With Military

Militants in the Niger Delta region said it is prepared to ceasefire and resume its attack on military installations as a way of retaliating what it described as the gruesome murder of one of its leader, Boy Chike by the Nigerian military in the region. . "MEND has decreed every soldier in uniform inside the Niger Delta region as a fair target," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a mail sent on-line to our correspondent. "Our first spectacular urban attack on a military patrol will announce the end of the ceasefire." The military had through the Spokesman of the Joint Military Task Force in Rivers State, Col. Musa Sagir admitted Tuesday, it had shot and killed a gang leader who spearheaded violent clashes between rival factions over control of a lucrative trade in stolen oil. The Spokesman had admitted that Tubotamuno Angolia, also known as "Boy Chiki", who was arrested in the Bakana district of Rivers state was shot dead while trying to escape, But MEND rejected that version of events, saying the militant group leader was handcuffed, urinated and spat on before being executed. It said Angolia was not a member of MEND, but said such killings by the security forces were becoming "a common practice endorsed by the Nigerian government" in the Niger Delta.