Gang attacks Nigerian oil city
2004-08-24 12:49
Lagos - At least five people were killed and over 30 houses razed when a militant gang launched an attack on a community near southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt, the police said on Tuesday.
The attack on the Njemanze waterfront on Sunday night was carried out by members of an outlawed militia gang, a special aide of Rivers State police commissioner Sylvester Araba said.
"We can confirm the death of five people, but the toll may be higher," he said.
He said the attack was in retaliation for a raid by a vigilante group that dislodged the gang from Njemanze last year.
Annual death toll estimate: Over 1 000
Press reports said between six and 10 people were killed, while more than 30 houses and many more vehicles were set ablaze by the invaders.
The police said nine suspects have been arrested over the incident, the latest in the volatile oil-rich city in recent weeks.
Last week, the police recovered 13 bodies following a clash between rival political factions in Ataba, near Port Harcourt, in the oil-rich but troubled Niger delta region.
The Niger Delta, heartland of Africa's oil industry, has long been prey to factional violence, piracy and ethnic warfare.
A recent report by security experts commissioned by the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell estimated the annual death toll from the fighting at more than 1 000, a conflict on the scale of the guerrilla wars in Chechnya and Colombia.