Rebel group bombs Nigerian government building

Two car bombs have detonated in the Nigerian oil city of Warri during Monday’s talks on an amnesty for former rebel fighters. The blasts took place after the main armed group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), threatened to detonate three devices near the venue.

NASA

At least four state governors were among several hundred senior officials gathered in the Delta State government house in the southern city when the bombs went off.

"The first one exploded just as the governors came in and the second one was about 30 minutes later," said Delta State government spokesman Linus Chima.

Soldiers ordered the evacuation of the building, but it was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

The federal minister in charge of the region, Ufot Ekaette, was also at the ceremony organised by the independent newspaper Vanguard.

MEND also threatened to resume attacks on the installations of oil companies in the Niger Delta, where the group has campaigned for a greater share of the oil wealth for the local population.

"In our usual effort to prevent the loss of innocent life, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta advises the immediate evacuation of the Government House annex Warri and its immediate surroundings," MEND said in a statement.

MEND had in January called off a unilateral truce it announced in October following a government amnesty for former rebels in the "oil war" zone.

In a separate statement, the group warned of imminent attacks across the Niger Delta.

The oil-rich region has been rocked by more than three years of fighting by armed militants demanding a greater share of oil wealth for local communities.