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Nigerian army says repels attack on Shell gas plant
Source: Agencies |
February 7, 2009, Saturday
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NIGERIAN soldiers repelled an attack by gunmen early today on a gas plant operated by Royal Dutch Shell in the southern Niger Delta, killing three of the suspected militants, a military spokesman said.
"At about 4 am (03:00 GMT) this morning some suspected militants attacked the Utorogu gas plant in Delta state," Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the joint military taskforce in the western Niger Delta, said.
"Our troops responded and killed three of the attackers and captured one, who is seriously injured. One soldier was wounded and two Shell workers were wounded and are receiving treatment."
Shell could not immediately be reached for comment.
Abubakar said there was no impact on the facility and that soldiers were still guarding the site.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The main militant group in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), called off a five-month-old ceasefire a week ago, warning of a "sweeping assault" on Nigeria's oil and gas industry, the biggest in Africa.
But MEND, whose attacks on oil facilities have shut down more than a fifth of Nigeria's crude oil output over the past three years, warned its assault would begin in Rivers state, next to Delta state.
"At about 4 am (03:00 GMT) this morning some suspected militants attacked the Utorogu gas plant in Delta state," Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the joint military taskforce in the western Niger Delta, said.
"Our troops responded and killed three of the attackers and captured one, who is seriously injured. One soldier was wounded and two Shell workers were wounded and are receiving treatment."
Shell could not immediately be reached for comment.
Abubakar said there was no impact on the facility and that soldiers were still guarding the site.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The main militant group in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), called off a five-month-old ceasefire a week ago, warning of a "sweeping assault" on Nigeria's oil and gas industry, the biggest in Africa.
But MEND, whose attacks on oil facilities have shut down more than a fifth of Nigeria's crude oil output over the past three years, warned its assault would begin in Rivers state, next to Delta state.
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