2007年VOA标准英语-Nigerian Militants Announce Suspension of Attac

By Sarah Simpson
Lagos
02 June 2007

One of the main militant¹ groups operating in the Niger Delta² says it will suspend hostilities³ for one month to allow the government of new President Umaru Yar'Adua to create a plan for peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. The group has also released six foreign hostages. But as Sarah Simpson reports from Lagos four more foreign oil workers have been kidnapped in the oil-rich region.

One of the main militant groups operating in the Niger Delta , the Movement for the Emancipation⁴ of the Niger Delta, or MEND, on Saturday announced a one-month suspension of attacks on oil installations. The MEND spokesman, who goes by the name Jomo Gbomo, told VOA by email, his only means of communication with reporters, that he hopes the Nigerian government will use the reprieve⁵ to consider "positive and realistic measures towards a just peace in the Delta."

He said attacks will resume, after one month, with "greater purpose."

More than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped in the region this year. Some of the abductions are the work of criminal gangs seeking ransom⁶, while others have been carried out by militant groups, like MEND, demanding that local villages get more of the region's oil wealth. The victims are usually released unharmed following payment of a ransom.

Nigerian authorities said Saturday that men dressed in what looked like police uniforms entered a compound used by oil-services company Schlumberger in the oil city of Port Harcourt late Friday. They say the assailants seized four foreign nationals under cover of darkness, without firing a shot.

Rivers State Police Commissioner⁷ Felix Ogbaudu pointed⁸ out that the dark uniforms of the Nigerian police are easy to copy, especially at night.

Police officials say the nationalities of the abductees could not be immediately confirmed, though they say a British, Dutch and Pakistani national are believed to be among the group.

This was the second hostage-taking incident in a day. Eight Asian oil workers were abducted⁹ Friday in Port Harcourt.

Thousands of oil workers have already fled the Delta because of security fears. The rising tide of militancy¹⁰ and criminal gang activity has forced a 25 percent cut in Nigerian oil production.

Separately on Saturday, MEND announced the release of six foreign hostages - four Italians, one U.S. citizen and a Croatian. The men had been held for just over month.

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and the third largest supplier to the United States. All of Nigeria's crude is pumped from the troubled Delta.

Newly elected President Umaru Yar'Adua, sworn into office Tuesday, has promised to tackle unrest in the Delta. He called a Niger Delta Summit to open on Monday but already that has been delayed.

President Yar'Adua has also promised to upgrade Nigeria's police force, which has been plagued by charges of corruption¹¹ and incompetence¹².

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

4 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

6 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

10 militancy   

n.warlike behavior or tendency

参考例句：

• Full of militancy and revolutionary ardour, the people of all nationalities in the country are working hard for the realization of the four modernizations. 全国各族人民意气风发， 斗志昂扬，为实现四个现代化而奋战。
• The seniority system is another factor that leads to union militancy. 排资论辈制度也是导致工会好斗争的另一因素。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。