In a development which has managed to put a 2 month long truce with the Government in considerable doubt, armed men in the Niger delta area of Nigeria have revalued that they overnight attacked an oil pipeline.

The responsibility of the attach has been assumed by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, and a spokesperson has said that the reason for the attack was that the Government was delaying peace talks because of the absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who is currently in Saudi Arabia.

Such attacks have, it has been estimated, cost Nigeria over million over the years in lost revenue.

As confirmed by the group in an e-mail, the attack, described as a "warning strike", was carried out by 35 armed men on 5 boats. The attacked were equipped with "assault rifles, rocket launchers and heavy-calibre machine guns".

The attacked pipeline was located in Abonemma, which is nearly 50km West of Port Harcourt.

No comments on the attack have been shared by the Nigerian military.