Nigeria’s Oil Conflict Needs Neutral Mediator, U.K. Church Says

By Dulue Mbachu

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The conflict in Nigeria’s southern oil-rich Niger Delta, which has pitched government troops against various armed groups, requires a neutral international mediator to be resolved, a U.K. church group said.

“A lack of trust between parties is the biggest obstacle to peace,” Coventry Cathedral’s peace and reconciliation ministry said in a report on the region published yesterday. The Niger Delta, which is home to the country’s oil industry, is unlikely to see “sustained peace” without such mediation.

Armed attacks, including kidnappings and the hijacking of vessels, have cut crude oil exports by more than 20 percent since 2006. Nigeria is Africa’s leading oil producer and the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, the main armed group in the region, says it’s fighting for the region’s poor. Some other armed groups engage in kidnapping for ransom.

The report said widespread corruption in the nation of 140 million people is an “important conflict driver.”

“Efforts must be made to make peace seem the more attractive option to all parties,” said the 296-page report. “There must be efficient, fair and equitable delivery of justice.”

Coventry Cathedral has been involved in worldwide peace and reconciliation work since it was bombed during World War II.

MEND has said it will disarm if the government agrees to a formal peace process, according to the report. The group confirmed by telephone that was its position.

The government didn’t immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dulue Mbachu in Lagos at dmbachu@bloomberg.net