By Nick Tattersall

LAGOS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Hundreds of militants from the Niger Delta are being sent abroad for non-violence and anger management training after agreeing to lay down their guns as part of efforts to quell insecurity in Nigeria's oil heartland.

Militants have bombed pipelines and kidnapped hundreds of oil workers in the delta's mangrove creeks in recent years in what they call a fight for their impoverished communities to win a fairer share of the wealth under their feet.

The Nigerian military -- which views the gunmen as criminals rather than activists -- has used helicopters and gunboats to flush some out of their camps, but many politicians and security experts say a purely military solution is not the answer.

"Any development plan that does not address the issue of the transformation of the lives of those who have been involved in extreme violence will surely fail," said Allen Onyema, head of the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN).

The programme, jointly organised by FEHN, aims to turn angry young men who have agreed to lay down their weapons into employable workers who can be reintegrated into civilian life.

They are first taught about icons of non-violence like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King at schools in Nigeria and South Africa before going to countries including Norway and the United States to learn skills like pipeline welding and ship-building.

Some foreign firms in Nigeria also agreed to train them.

"We have been fighting for our rights," said Tango George, a muscular 20-year old, who said he fought for Boyloaf, a militant leader in Bayelsa state, before being chosen for the programme.

"They told us to come and learn to fight by using our tongue, not by carrying gun," he told Reuters at Lagos airport as he prepared to board a flight to Johannesburg with a group of around 70 of his peers from the delta.

MILITANTS OR CRIMINALS?

The programme is being organised with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a government agency jointly funded by the state and by international oil companies to boost development in the region.

Those leaving for South Africa late on Wednesday -- checking in alongside expatriates they might once have been tempted to kidnap -- were the third group of around 70 to start the scheme.

Some 540 have been selected to take part overall, according to Kingsley Kuku, head of the peace and conflict management unit of NDDC and a key negotiator on a government peace committee.

"The aim is to show them the beauty of non-violence and of agitating for their rights through non-violent means," Kuku, who negotiated with camp leaders to allow their "boys" to be sent on the scheme, told Reuters.

The line between militancy and criminality is blurred in the Niger Delta and the mafia-like gangs behind attacks on oil installations are also blamed for the theft of crude oil and kidnappings for ransom.

Insecurity is unlikely to end with such lucrative activities going on and some see military might as the only solution.

But others argue that if the militants can be brought on side, given jobs and made stakeholders in the development of the region, they will help stamp out the purely criminal gangs.

"I just want them to teach me skills so I can manage my life. I don't want to be a gangster," said Isaac Ime, 27, who said he had also been a member of Boyloaf's camp.

"But there are no jobs, no good roads, no schools. The federal government is cheating us. Even if you gave me cleaning work in Europe I would do it," he said.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Editing by Randy Fabi)

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