Armed men attacked an oil-rig security vessel at a facility of a multinational oil company in Nigeria’s southern oil-rich state of Bayelsa, officials said on Friday.
Unconfirmed industry sources said six people were thought to have been wounded in the attack late on Thursday, while three could have been kidnapped during the attack.
But navy spokesperson Captain Obiora Medani said that nobody was kidnapped or injured.
”There was neither hostage-taking nor injuries.” Medani said.
”There was indeed an incident last night. We suspect it was a piracy activity, but the details are still sketchy, and we have sent officials of the state … for investigation,” Bayelsa state government secretary Godknows Igali said earlier in Yenagoa.
The attack targeted Mike One, a security vessel supporting Trident 8, a transocean rig drilling for Conoil at Brass, in the Gulf of Guinea.
Violence is rife in the states of the oil-rich Niger Delta, with frequent attacks on foreign oil companies and kidnapping of expatriate employees by armed gangs or separatists seeking a greater share for local populations deprived of the region’s oil wealth. — Sapa-AFP