Navy Battles Militants

A stand-off that lasted for over 30 minutes was said to have ensued when the naval officers noticed the sudden movement and the simultaneous opening of fire with automatic weapons by the rebels, and had to return fore for fire.

Even though they managed to kill one of the navy personnel, the rebels were curtailed and forced into hasty retreat, fleeing in different directions, by the men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) who sank one of the boats carrying 12 militants.

Spokesman of the JTF, Lt. Colonel Sagir Musa said the rebels’ aim was to destroy the facility and take the arms of the personnel there, but that they met them on red alert.

‘The militants attacked the facility and wanted to destroy it and disrupt production but were overwhelmed. We sank one of their boats; the attack failed. We however lost one personnel, but the facility is on and producing without disruption,’ Colonel Musa said.

(Afrik.com)

Government Says Six Gunmen Killed

Nigerian security forces killed six unidentified gunmen in the oil-rich Niger Delta region and recovered weapons used by the attackers, a military spokesman said.

The assailants used six speedboats to stage a raid yesterday morning on a military installation near the Soku gas plant, about 15 miles west of Port Harcourt, Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, a spokesman for the task force in charge of security in the region, said in an interview. A machine gun, three AK-47 assault rifles and one FN rifle were seized.

``The attack was aimed at crippling our position, taking away our arms and ammunition and damaging the gas plant,'' Musa said. ``Our men are in full control of the area. There is no cause for alarm.''

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and attacks by armed groups in the southern delta, which accounts for nearly all of the country's output, have cut more than 20 percent of exports since 2006. While groups such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, claim to be fighting for more local access to oil wealth, others kidnap oil workers for ransom.

In an attack in September, MEND said it destroyed parts of the Soku gas plant, which is owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc. On Sept. 21, the group declared a cease-fire ``until further notice'' in the delta region.

(Bloomberg)

Hostages Captured off Cameroon In Good Health

Ten oil workers taken hostage off Cameroon's coast are "in good health", the leader of the West African rebels who kidnapped the men told AFP Sunday.

"The hostages are in good health. They are being looked after and remain safe," said Ebi Dari, the chief of the Bakassi Freedom Fighters, over the phone, while adding the group had had no contact with Cameroon's government.

"They (the government) know what we want. We sent our demands three months ago and have received no response. We want to meet them. That's why we took hostages," he said.

On Saturday, Dari told AFP the rebel group had "changed its mind" about plans to kill the workers, saying they would keep them hostage "for a very long time."

The Bakassi Freedom Fighters, opposed to Cameroon's takeover of the Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria, had threatened on Friday to kill the hostages "one by one" unless the government agreed to reopen talks on the oil-rich territory's status.

They seized the 10 oil workers -- six French, one Franco-Senegalese, two Cameroonians and one Tunisian - in a pre-dawn pirate attack Friday on an industry support vessel working off the coast of Cameroon.

"We have not done this for money," said Dari. "People in Bakassi are suffering."
Neighbouring Nigeria ceded Bakassi to Cameroon in August after a ruling by the International Court of Justice brought to an end a 15-year dispute over the peninsula, including rights to its oil fields and fishing grounds.

The handover was completed peacefully, but some local groups opposed the change of sovereignty and threatened attacks.

The Bakassi Freedom Fighters, part of a shadowy group dubbed the Niger Delta Defence and Security Council, claimed responsibility in June and July for attacks that killed seven

Cameroonian troops and a local official.

(APF)

Construction Worker Kidnapped

Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese construction worker in the southern Nigerian oil industry hub of Port Harcourt on Monday, police and a private security source in the city said.

"A Lebanese was kidnapped by gunmen this morning but our men are on their trail," police spokeswoman Rita Inoma-Abbey said.

The security source said the man was employed by an engineering company which is working on a road project in the Choba suburb of Port Harcourt, the main city in the Niger Delta, which is home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.

The region has long been racked by insecurity, particularly since militants launched a campaign of violent sabotage against the oil industry two years ago to push for a greater share of the wealth generated by five decades of oil extraction.

Heavily-armed criminal gangs, funded by a lucrative trade in stolen oil, have taken advantage of the breakdown in law and order to stage robberies and kidnappings for ransom.

Several hundred foreigners have been seized since early 2006 but most have been released unharmed.

(Reuters)

Shell Employees Kidnapped

Bayelsa State police command has commenced investigation into the alleged kidnap of two officials of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) along Okordia/Zarama road in the old Yenagoa local government area of the state.

The kidnapped officers were identified as Mr. Michael Obikaun and Mrs. Favour Dappah of the inspectorate division of the Anglo Dutch oil giant, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

According to a statement issued by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Iniobong Ibokette (DSP), the kidnappers trailed the officials from Port Harcourt and finally swooped on them along the Okordia/Zarama road.

The kidnappers armed with dangerous weapons, were said to have shot indiscriminately into the air ostensibly to frighten away any would be intruder before whisking them away in a dark brown Mercedes Benz 190 E car to an unknown destination.

Vanguard reliably learnt that the kidnapped officials were on supervision of on-going electrification project at Okordia/Zarama community.

“The state command is making concerted efforts to track down the perpetrators of the heinous crime,” said the state police public relations officer.

Reacting to the development, the people of Okordia kingdom yesterday condemned the abduction of the SPDC supervisors executing the electrification project in the area.

The traditional ruler of the kingdom, King Richard Seibai in an interview with newsmen described the action as barbaric and anti-development especially at a time efforts are being made to provide sustainable development.

He pleaded with the state government to come to their aid and arrest the situation by bringing the culprits to book and promised to work with government to arrest the situation.

The king also appealed to government to deploy officers of the Joint Task Force to beef up security in the kingdom and for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to prevail on its workers to return to site.

(Vanguard)