Unidentified gunmen shot and killed two people when they opened fire on a crowd at a bus station in Nigeria's southern city of Port Harcourt, witnesses said.
They said several other people were wounded in the shooting, the latest example of violence in Nigeria's lawless oil region, where attacks on Western facilities, kidnapping of foreigners and gang violence have been on the rise since last year.
"We have so far received 13 persons with serious gunshot wounds. Two of them have died, while some of them are still in critical condition," said a worker at Teme Hospital in Port Harcourt, who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
The gunmen were in three vehicles moving around the central area of the city. At the Mile One bus station, they shot into the crowd, hitting one woman in the buttocks and another in the ribs. A bus conductor was shot through the forehead.
Local human rights activists said the attack was probably linked to infighting in the Rivers State chapter of the ruling People's Democratic Party, which won last month's election amid massive rigging, according to international observers.
Military helicopters flew over the city as police pursued the gunmen, witnesses said.
Violence over the past 18 months has forced thousands of foreign workers to flee the Niger Delta, a maze of mangrove-lined creeks that is home to all of Nigeria's oil wealth, and shut down about a third of the nation's capacity.
There are currently 15 foreign hostages being held by various armed groups.
Some of the groups behind the violence in the region have made political demands, but the line between militancy and crime is blurred.
Poverty and endemic corruption in government is at the root of the worsening insecurity in the delta, where impoverished fishing villages host Africa's biggest oil industry.
Nigerian strike lifts Brent to nine-month high |
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London: Oil hit a nine-month high near $72 yesterday, propelled by a strike threat to Nigeria's hobbled output and a report by UN nuclear monitors that opened the way to tougher sanctions against Iran. London Brent crude, now a more accurate indicator than US oil, was up $1.10 at $71.70 a barrel by 1441 GMT, after hitting $71.80, the highest since August 28, 2006. US crude traded down 10 cents at $65.67. Prices steamed higher on Wednesday after US warships put on a show of force off Iran's coast, coinciding with a report by UN monitors that Tehran had expanded its nuclear programme. On Thursday the US navy began war games. "That played into the price action...It was a knee-jerk reaction to the headlines," said Mike Wittner of investment bank Calyon. The rally accelerated yesterday when workers at Nigeria's state oil company began an indefinite strike and unions said they would target oil output if their demands were not addressed within days. Militant attacks have already shut nearly a quarter of production in the world's eighth-biggest oil exporter. The Iran tension and new threat to Nigeria's exports added to concerns about fuel supplies in the world's top consumer the United States, where gasoline inventories have been rising but remain below average ahead of peak summer demand. "The gasoline situation remains critical...Stocks stand at a seasonal low with the driving season officially set to kick off this weekend," Citigroup said in a research note. Militant attacks have cut production of gasoline-rich crude from Nigeria by 695,000 barrels per day. "Two big things are keeping prices up, the Nigerian and gasoline situation," said Tony Nunan of Mitsubishi Corp. |
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