UPDATE:Nigeria Energy Min: Explained Oil Law To Some Militants

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VIENNA -(Dow Jones)- Nigeria's energy minister confirmed Thursday that he has had contact with some Niger Delta militants to explain to them the positive impact of a new oil bill, as he seeks to wins the hearts and minds of locals over the proposed law.

The statement follows comments made to Dow Jones Newswires by a local commander in the restive Niger Delta region.

"Yes, some of them [militants] have come to visit me," Rilwanu Lukman said when asked by Dow Jones Newswires if the conversations had taken place.

The proposed Petroleum Industry Bill would see companies fined if they fail to put in place development plans in communities where they operate. It would also require oil-related contracts be given "to local communities situated near the petroleum operations of [an oil-drilling] licensee or lessee."

Unrest tied to pollution and the lack of revenue redistribution from the oil industry has led to the shutdown of 1 million barrels a day of oil output in the Niger Delta.

Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires Monday, Busta Rhymes (a pseudonym, unrelated to the hip-hop artist), a militant commander in Rivers State, in the Eastern Delta, said he had had contact with Lukman over the proposed law.

As the energy minister and the man behind the bill, "he is the one who understands our community. He knows the pain we are going through," the commander said.

"We want to give him our weapons," he continued, and "the right source is Rilwanu Lukman. He has the belief of the local community...We don't trust other people."

Lukman said he had no intention of getting involved in the disarmament process and the contact he has had with the militants focused only on the law.

For disarmament, "there is an amnesty committee, there is the Ministry of Defense," the minister said. He confirmed he knew of the militant Busta Rhymes, as well as Kennedy West, the mediator helping Rhymes to disarm.

Rhymes has already expressed support for the clause in the bill regarding community development. But Jomo Gbomo, a spokesman of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, reacted with skepticism at the statement. "Are you sure they [the militants] understood the interpretation of that clause in the bill? I doubt it," he said in an email.

-Benoit Faucon, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 92 66; benoit.faucon@ dowjones.com;

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