Assailants hijack Nigerian vessel
2008-06-09 12:34
Port Harcourt - Assailants hijacked a vessel carrying eight navy sailors on Monday in Nigeria's restive southern oil region, said the military.
The boat was providing security for oil companies in waterways of the Niger Delta when the unknown attackers boarded the boat and took control of the bridge, said Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa.
He gave no details on the whereabouts or condition of the missing sailors. Their boat was protecting oil industry vessels and oil production sites. No major militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Attacks on the oil industry and security forces protecting them were common in the region, where the crude was pumped in Africa's biggest producer. Militants were agitating for more petroleum funds for their impoverished region, but politics and crime were closely intermingled.
Nigeria's southern waters had the greatest number of pirate attacks than anywhere in the world, as the military force charged with calming the region pushed criminals out of the cities and into the region's creeks and swamps.
Hijackings and kidnappings usually ended peacefully after a ransom was paid, although deaths and injuries had occurred after security forces battled the attackers.
Attacks on the oil industry had trimmed nearly one quarter of Nigeria's production in the past two years, helping drive worldwide crude prices to historical highs.
- AP