Topic: Yayale Ahmed

Once again, militant violence in the Niger Delta has prompted the region's largest foreign oil company to concede it cannot meet output expectations.

The state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. admitted to paying armed militant groups $12 million in protection money.

Nigeria's leading militant group warned that it is planning a full-scale attack on military bases and petroleum production centers in the oil-rich Niger Delta to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the president's inauguration.

The Nigerian government announced it intends to employ the very same militants often blamed for attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta to guard the region's oil pipelines.

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, May 21 (UPI) -- The Nigerian government says it is willing to employ militants often blamed for attacks on oil installations to guard the Niger Delta region's oil pipelines.