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Lebanese shot dead in Nigeria
20/07/2007 09:43 - (SA)
Abuja - Suspected armed robbers shot dead a Lebanese businessman in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta, said the local police commissioner on Friday.
Felix Ogbaudu said the robbers locked the apartment block's security guard inside his post and entered the Lebanese man's house, took some of his belongings and shot him dead. He said it happened about 03:00 on Friday.
Ogbaudu said armed robberies were commonplace in that part of the city, but it was unclear why the attackers had shot the man, who had a private furniture-making business. No one else was harmed.
Kidnappings of foreigners were frequent in the oil-producing delta and many abductions had taken place in Port Harcourt, but it was unusual for expatriates to get killed.
Port Harcourt was the main city in the delta. It had become increasingly dangerous since early 2006, after militants demanding control over oil revenues stepped up a campaign of attacks on the oil industry.
The militants had attacked oil facilities and kidnapped oil workers, cutting Nigeria's exports by about a fifth and prompting thousands of expatriate workers and their relatives to leave the region.
But numerous criminal gangs had used the unrest as a cover to abduct foreigners for ransom or carry out armed robberies.
The delta, including Port Harcourt, was also plagued by violent youth gangs called "cults" who frequently clash for reasons that usually remain obscure.
- Reuters
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