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| Nigeria rebels claim Lagos attack | |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Nigeria's most prominent rebel group says it has carried out an "unprecedented attack" on an oil tanker facility in Lagos state. | Nigeria's most prominent rebel group says it has carried out an "unprecedented attack" on an oil tanker facility in Lagos state. |
| "The depot and loading tankers moored at the facility are currently on fire," said the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend). | "The depot and loading tankers moored at the facility are currently on fire," said the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend). |
| It was not immediately clear whether the attack had taken place but police were investigating, reported Reuters. | It was not immediately clear whether the attack had taken place but police were investigating, reported Reuters. |
| Previous attacks by Mend have mostly hit the Niger Delta in the south. | Previous attacks by Mend have mostly hit the Niger Delta in the south. |
| Such attacks have severely cut Nigeria's oil output. | |
| In a statement, Mend said that "heavily armed" men had "carried out an unprecedented attack on the Atlas Cove Jetty in Lagos". | |
| It follows claims from the group in recent days that it had blown up several oil pipelines and captured six foreign crew from onboard an oil tanker. | |
| The Mend rebels have been fighting the rights of local people in the Niger Delta and for an increased share of Nigeria's vast oil wealth. | |
| But the government has in the past dismissed them as criminals. | |
| The government recently offered an amnesty to members of any militant group which laid down its weapons | |
| Henry Okah, Mend's leader, is facing treason and gun-running charges since his arrest in Angola in 2007. His release has been a key demand of his Mend militant group. | |
| On Friday, lawyers for Mr Okah said he had accepted the amnesty offer and he is due to released early this week. |