Gunmen Attack Navy Houseboat in Nigeria

Unknown gunmen attacked a navy houseboat in southern Nigeria protecting a Royal Dutch Shell crude oil flow station on Friday, a military spokesman said.

The attack at the Nembe Creek flow station in Bayelsa state in the western Niger Delta took place at around 3 a.m. (0200 GMT), Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the joint military task force said. He said the Shell facility itself was not damaged.

"There is no report so far of any (deaths) but we are collecting more details," Abubakar said.

A security source working in the oil industry said four naval personnel were injured and receiving treatment while three more were unaccounted for.

Recent attacks by militants on oil facilities in the Niger Delta had largely been focused on Rivers state in the eastern Niger Delta but there have been a growing number of violent incidents in Bayelsa and Delta states to the west.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has said it believes the military are preparing to attack militant camps in Bayelsa and Delta and warned that it will end its ceasefire and resume attacks on the oil industry if it is provoked.

Author: Jo Amey