The Nigerian military said on Thursday it had recovered dynamite, arms and ammunition from gunmen who attacked navy vessels guarding the country's main crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals.
The attackers hit gunboats late on Wednesday guarding Bonny Island, home to an LNG terminal whose exports make up close to 10 percent of world supply and to Nigeria's biggest crude oil export facility, operated by Royal Dutch Shell.
"One general purpose machine gun, one AK-47 rifle, one sub-machine gun, assorted ammunition ... and some quantity of dynamite were recovered from the militants," said Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, a military spokesman in the Niger Delta.
The attack in the heart of Africa's biggest oil and gas industry was the first significant strike since the region's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), announced a ceasefire last month.
No group has claimed responsibility.
The LNG plant at Bonny is controlled by Western companies including Shell, Total and Eni unit Agip. State oil firm NNPC owns 49 percent.
Bonny is also home to Nigeria's biggest single crude oil export terminal by volume, which is owned by SPDC, a joint venture in which Shell holds 30 percent and NNPC holds 55 percent.
Local subsidiaries of Total and Agip hold the rest.
(Reuters)
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