Lagos (Platts)--23Dec2009/705 am EST/1205 GMT

Nigerian defense minister Godwin Abbey has warned that government security agencies will come down hard on any rebel groups that disrupt the relative peace prevailing in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, local media reported Wednesday.

The minister's warning Tuesday came against the backdrop of a claim by the country's main militant group MEND--the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta--that it had carried out a "warning strike" Saturday against an oil pipeline operated by either Shell or Chevron in Southern Rivers state.

"The government is not unmindful of those trying to undermine the peace process but the Armed Forces will do what it is expected to do. I want to assure all Nigerians that the relative peace we now enjoy in the Niger Delta which has seen the country make giant strides will not elude us," the Vanguard newspaper quoted Abbey saying in Abuja.

MEND said it carried out the attack on the pipeline over a lack of progress in peace talks with the government.

Although the oil companies said they could not confirm the incident, it represented the first such claim from MEND for three months, since the group declared a unilateral ceasefire to allow for negotiations with the government.

Attacks by MEND on oil production facilities cut Nigeria's oil production from 2.6 million b/d in early 2006 to around 1.7 million b/d prior to a government amnesty deal to try to end years of unrest.

The group responded to the amnesty in late October with an indefinite ceasefire.

--Staff, newsdesk@platts.com