On September 14, 2008, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta is one of the largest militant groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The organization claims to expose exploitation and oppression of the people of the Niger Delta and devastation of the natural environment by public-private partnerships...

(MEND) inaugurated Operation Hurricane Barbarossa with an ongoing string of militant attacks to bring down the oil industry in Rivers State

Rivers State

Rivers State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria. Its capital is Port Harcourt. It is bounded on the South by the Atlantic Ocean, to the North by Imo, Abia and Anambra States, to the East by Akwa Ibom State and to the West by Bayelsa and Delta states...

.

On September 27, a week after declaring an oil war and sustaining heavy losses at the hands of the Nigerian armed forces, the group declared a ceasefire

Ceasefire

A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...

starting the next until "further notice."