Lagos/Abuja — President Umaru Yar'Adua did a quick one on Wednesday by ordering the release of Mujahideen Dokubo-Asari, whose arrest by the State Security Services (SSS) the previous day simply played into the hands of militants who doubt his sincerely about amnesty.

Insurgent leaders Ateke Tom and Soboma George are among those who say they would give up violence for the olive branch, but cite Abuja's antecedents for shifting the goal post in the middle of the game.

After his release on Wednesday, Dokubo declared the amnesty offer as a fraud, even though Yar'Adua clarified that he was never arrested, and pledged to return peace and stability to the Niger Delta by the end of this year.

Yar'Adua spoke at a press conference held jointly at the Villa with Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, who came on a one-day visit.

He said Dokubo "was not arrested or detained. He was invited by the (SSS) for debriefing which is a normal routine. He was asked to go just a few hours later.

"So, there was no arrest or detention. What happened does not amount to arrest or detention."

Yar'Adua promised to keep his word by announcing today the terms of the amnesty.

By his own account, however, Dokubo - leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) - was nabbed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on arrival from Germany where he had been since May 23 for medical check up.

And Aso Rock Spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, said Yar'Adua directed the SSS to free him after he was briefed.

Adeniyi did not disclose why Dokubo was arrested, let alone why he was released.

Dokubo first had a brush with the law on September 20, 2005 when he was arrested on charges of treason and imprisoned.

He was released on June 14, 2007 and has since moderated his militant stance.

He has publicly disavowed violence and spoken out against the rise of criminality in the Niger Delta, especially kidnapping for ransom.

But after he broke free of the SSS on Wednesday, he told journalists at the office of his Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, that accepting the amnesty offer would rubbish the struggle of Ijaw leaders such as Isaac Boro.

In his view, "everything is wrong with this amnesty; it's meant to divert the struggle, so it is a fraud, and will not work until the issue of sovereignty is resolved. This jamboree called amnesty will not succeed, it is useless.

"Amnesty means that you are being pardoned for committing a crime. Yar'Adua is standing like God giving out amnesty, but what is the fundamental of our struggle which Saro Wiwa and Isaac Boro laid down their lives for?

"The issue is about sovereignty, nationhood, and the identity of a people. So for me, I cannot receive amnesty from anybody, I have done nothing wrong by taking up arms to protect my father's land.

"When did they decide to give amnesty? It was when they realised that they are losing the battle. They realised that the economic fortune of the country is dwindling, and all of a sudden amnesty became desirable.

"We do not want to die, I have a Fulani wife, I have a child that is going to be half Fulani and half Ijaw, a hybrid between Fulani and Ijaw; and I wonder what the child will look like when he grows up.

"I don't want to fight, I have four wives and 24 children, and more children are still coming, so I don't want to die. But I respect my dignity more that any other thing."

Dokubo said Tom Polo, who is "still in the country," is the best material the government has to bring peace to the Niger Delta because he is respected by everybody, "level headed and does not kill people, and does not believe in kidnapping."

Despite his skepticism about the amnesty, he said he would "support anybody in the oil community who has the capability to explore crude oil as long as he follows environmental best practices, so that he will not also join in damaging of our environment. As long as he complies with this I will support him, even with my life.

"What right does Femi Otedola and Aliko Dangote and others have to take our oil while somebody from the oil community does not have the right to take it?"

Dokubo insisted that kidnapping and bank robbery are not part of the struggle, because "ours is a moral and just struggle, we cannot use the same weapon used by the enemy.

"Yesterday (Tuesday), I was confined at the Murtala Mohammed Airport against my wish; I did not find it funny. Why would you take somebody against his will and collect money in order to release him? No, it's not moral, I will not support it; I will not be part of it, and I will continue to call such a person a criminal."

Keyamo noted that because of Dokubo's latest ordeal, "Those who would have embraced the peace process will shy away. It shows that the government is not sincere. The whole amnesty is a grand trap to lure the militants out and imprison them."

Delta State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Deputy Chairman, Ighoyota Amori, countered that "we are happy that (Yar'Adua) has ordered his release. The arrest almost truncated the spirit of the amnesty. We are grateful for his timely intervention which was capable of sending the wrong signal. The release will strengthen the amnesty."

But Jomo Gbomo, Spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), insisted that the MEND would not lay down its arms and partake in the N50 billion amnesty deal on the table.

He condemned the arrest of Dokubo, and said "it is a shame that the Interior Minister (Godwin Abbe) and his cohorts are offering bribes and incentives to militants in a desperate attempt to get our co-operation in sharing the N50 billion budgeted for the amnesty exercise."

The conflict, as confirmed on Wednesday by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), costs the country 1.3 million barrels of crude oil per day when it is expected to produce about 2.4 million barrels to meet the needs of the citizens.

NNPC General Manager, Gabby Meheux, confirmed to the House of Representatives Niger Delta Probe Committee that 1.3 million barrels are lost daily.