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Oil exec's house attacked, 2 die
24/07/2007 11:17 - (SA)
Port Harcourt - Gunmen on motorbikes stormed the house of a newly appointed energy official in oil-rich southern Nigeria late on Monday and killed two of his family members, said police.
Felix Ogbaudu, police commissioner for Rivers state, said Billy Braide had been holding a celebration after his appointment as energy commissioner for Nigeria's biggest oil-producing state.
Minutes after Braide left the party, gunmen arrived and sprayed the house with bullets, killing Braide's younger brother and cousin, while others were wounded, said Ogbaudu.
He said: "The junior brother died instantly, while the cousin gave up later in the hospital." Political violence had increased since the run-up to countrywide elections in April - which were widely condemned as rigged.
Rivers States governor kidnapped
Some candidates were murdered during the campaign, while others reported dynamite attacks on their houses and kidnappings of family members.
The elderly mother of Rivers State's new governor was kidnapped just after his victory was announced. With a budget of $1.3bn, restive Rivers was the richest state in Nigeria - Africa's largest oil producer.
Unrest appeared to be growing in the southern oil-producing region - with hundreds of foreigners kidnapped and a string of bombings for the last two years.
Analysts said the violence had been exacerbated by the use of local gangs used to intimidate political opponents.
Berlin-based watchdog group, Transparency International, rated Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Most citizens struggled to get by on less than $2 a day in a country, where unemployment was high and arms were freely available.
- AP
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