Niger Delta rebel camp busted

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Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad is seen with Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh after a meeting at the latter's office in New Delhi Tuesday. — Internet

The Nigerian army has arrested a rebel gang leader and more than 50 of his followers believed to be behind the kidnapping of 19 people in the oil-producing Niger Delta, reports AFP.
The military said Obese Kuna and his gang had been detained after a shootout in an operation that lasted eight hours when its troops encircled a camp in southern Nigeria's main oil producing region on Friday.
"The military has him and 51 of his boys and is presently transferring the criminals to Port Harcourt in military-escorted gunboats," Timothy Antigha, a spokesman for the military taskforce which polices the Niger Delta, said.
The hostages, two Americans, two Frenchmen, two Indonesians, one Canadian and 12 Nigerians, were freed late on Wednesday after being held by Kuna at a camp in Rivers state.
The armed forces have said they have taken over several rebel camps in the Niger Delta, the heartland of Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, and that they will carry out more raids to capture gang members.
Unrest in the Niger delta risks undermining the credibility of Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's president, in the run-up to elections next April. Jonathan is the first head of state from the oil region and brokered an amnesty with rebels last year.
Key field commanders of the main rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), which claims to be fighting for a fairer distribution of oil revenue, accepted the amnesty.