Passenger-boat robbers killed
2009-06-03 17:33
Port Harcourt - A Nigerian military spokesperson says members of the armed forces killed three gunmen who were robbing a passenger boat in the restive southern oil region.
Col Rabe Abubakar said the military responded late on Tuesday to a distress call by the targeted vessel and engaged the robbers in a gunfight. Three attackers were killed while four others fled. Abubakar said the military suffered no casualties.
The military has in recent weeks been stepping up operations against the militant fighters and armed criminal gangs that roam the creeks and rivers of the vast Niger Delta, where crude oil is pumped in Africa's biggest petroleum producer.
- SAPA