Nigeria oil rebels amnesty offer starts Thursday

BUJA (Reuters) – Niger Delta militants are expected to start turning in their arms at collection centers on Thursday when an unconditional pardon offered by President Umaru Yar’Adua begins, the amnesty committee said.

Yar’Adua offered a 60-day amnesty to gunmen on June 24, in an effort to stem unrest in the oil-producing delta region which has prevented Nigeria from pumping much above two-thirds of its oil capacity.

Attacks have cost the world’s eighth-biggest exporter billions of dollars a year in lost revenues.

Reuters