Lagos/Warri — Another crisis stared at the strategic oil sector yesterday after a militant group responsible for the kidnapped of four foreign oil workers in the Niger Delta last month, threatened to unleash fresh wave of violence next week in the oil producing region.

The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) said in statement e-mailed to THISDAY that the international community should do well to evacuate their nationals from the Niger Delta before February 12, or face violent attacks.

MEND claimed responsibility for the kidnap January 11, 2006 of the expatriate oil workers, an American Patrick Landry, a Briton Briton Nigel Watson-Clark, Honduran Harry Ebanks and Bulgarian Milko Nichev.

After it claimed the hostages were released on "compassionate ground", the militant group said it had been provoked into declaring another round of battle following reports in the media which claimed that the Bayelsa State Government paid over N264 million to the group to effect the release of the hostages.

MEND also said it had decided to launch attack on oil facilities based on information available to it that the Federal Government intends to poison two Ijaw leaders, the former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and Mujahideen Asari Dokubo.

"A social, economic and political disaster shall be launched by MEND in the shortest possible time at the heartbeat of the oil industry, to effectively dissuade Nigeria and her domestic and foreign collaborators from activities and criminal discretions inimical to the Niger Delta region," said the group.

"We shall cripple the capacity of Nigeria to export our crude by a fatal 85 per cent... The international community should do well to evacuate their nationals everywhere, within, about or around the Niger Delta before 12th of February, because the wrath of the gods of izon land is boiling and the blood of the oil invaders shall be made to appease the petulance of the rivers of our raging rebellion," it added.

When MEND first staged its uprising last month to demand for the release of Asari and Alamieyeseigha, who are standing trial for treason and money laundering offences respectively, it blew up a crude oil pipeline in the Escravos area of Delta State, which feeds the Warri refinery. The 125,000 barrels per day refinery was shut down last week after it ran out of supplies.

The militant group also attacked Shell EA offshore oil platform and four flowstations, killing more than 10 soldiers, while Nigeria also lost 221,000 bpd of oil production, translating to a daily loss of $14.4 million (N1.87 billion) revenue.

The spate of violence got bloodier when militants attacked the operational base of Italian oil firm, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Port Harcourt also last month killing nine people including eight policemen.

In the attack which were downplayed as armed robbery, the armed gang numbering about 30 and armed with AK-47 assault rifles, stormed Agip'­s sprawling complex in commando style in two speed boats.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, while receiving the four expatriate oil workers after their release last week, had described the hostage takers as criminals and that were acting as terrorists.

Promising to ensure law and order is maintained in all parts of the federation particularly the Niger Delta, Obasanjo vowed that his government would neither be blackmailed, threatened or intimidated.

But MEND said in the e-mailed message that it was ready to confront the Federal Government 'fire-for-fire.'

"The Nigerian military should be warned... any suggestive attempt to threaten our revolution shall be met with a heavy hammer", the group said.

Meanwhile, an Ijaw leader, Mr. Owen Nanakumor yesterday advised the Federal Government to urgently address the 'injustice' against the people of the Niger Delta, as a panacea to ending the