Nairobi/Abuja - Nigerian militants responsible for crippling attacks on the West African nation's oil industry said Thursday they would call off a ceasefire after Britain promised to support the Nigerian government in ending oil-related violence.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said attacks would begin again from midnight on Saturday after a two-week cessation to "demonstrate our seriousness."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to help the Nigerian government end attacks during this week's G8 summit in Japan.

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua asked the G8 to help end unrest in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, saying it was due to an international cartel of smugglers making billions of dollars from stolen "blood oil."

However, MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in statement that Yar'Adua had made a "fraudulent appeal."

"The international community and independent researchers are well aware that the unrest in the region is a result of over five decades of oil exploration that has developed other parts of Nigeria to the detriment of the environment and people of the Niger Delta," he said.

Militants in the impoverished Niger Delta regularly attack oil production facilities and abduct oil workers as they press for a bigger say in oil exploitation in the area.

In spite of its oil wealth, the majority of Nigerians live on below one dollar a day.

Gbomo also warned that MEND would target British citizens and interests in Nigeria should Brown choose to "support criminality for the sake of oil."

Attacks have cut production in Nigeria by almost a quarter since the beginning of the year, contributing to sky-rocketing global oil prices and allowing Angola to overtake Nigeria as Africa's top oil producer. (dpa)