Nigeria militants "declare war" after army offensive

By Segun Owen

WARRI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's main militant group declared "all-out war" in the heart of Africa's biggest oil and gas industry on Friday after the security forces used gunboats to try to flush its fighters out of the creeks.

Navy gunboats exchanged fire with militants along Chanomi Creek in Delta state, a region which is home to U.S. energy giant Chevron's Escravos export terminal and Nigeria's 125,000 barrels per day Warri refinery.

The military said it was carrying out a "cordon-and-search" operation after the hijacking of two oil vessels, attacks on soldiers and repeated warnings to oil firms to evacuate their staff in recent days.

"The military taskforce cannot just fold its hands and allow these sorts of barbaric events to continue," military spokesman Colonel Rabe Abubakar told Reuters.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said the military had used aircraft during the attack in the Gbaramatu area of Delta state, a charge Abubakar denied.

"MEND is declaring an all-out war in the region and call upon all men of fighting age to enlist for our freedom," the group said in a statement emailed to media, repeating an ultimatum for oil workers to leave the region by midnight.

MEND has issued such threats several times in the past, most recently in late January when it warned of a "sweeping assault" on the oil and gas industry which never materialised.

Security sources have said they are taking the militant threats seriously but there are no plans to evacuate more staff.