Posted by BBC News on
Gunmen using speedboats have clashed with Nigerian soldiers as they attacked an oil platform operated by Shell in the Niger Delta.
Gunmen using speedboats have clashed with Nigerian soldiers as they attacked an oil platform operated by Shell in the Niger Delta.
A Shell spokesman said five workers were injured in the attack on the Benisede oil station in Bayelsa state.
There are unconfirmed reports that some soldiers defending the platform and gunmen died in the attack.
On Wednesday gunmen kidnapped four foreign workers from another Shell oil rig in the Niger delta region.
The hostages, who are still being held, come from the UK, the US, Honduras and Bulgaria, a Shell spokeswoman said.
Production cut
Elsewhere in the Delta last week, a major pipeline that feeds an export terminal was ruptured by militants.
The attackers invaded the flow station in speed boats, burnt down two staff accommodation blocks, damaged the processing facilities and left
Shell statement
The kidnappings and explosion, the latest in a string of violent incidents in the troubled region, have slashed Shell 's production there by some 220,000 barrels a day - almost 10% of Nigeria's average output of 2.6m barrels.
In a statement about the latest attack, Shell said "heavily armed persons" in attacked the platform early on Sunday.
"The attackers invaded the flow station in speedboats, burnt down two staff accommodation blocks, damaged the processing facilities and left," it added.
The injured members of staff have been taken to hospital, the company reported.
Evacuation
Soldiers guarding the platform returned fire, Brig Gen Elias Zamani, commander of a special task force assigned to the area, said.
According to Reuters news agency a number of soldiers and assailants died in the attack.
In response to the security problems, Shell has said it has begun evacuating more personnel from the Benisede facility and from and neighbouring flow stations.
The Nigerian army, which has thousands of troops in the Delta, has been unable to prevent attacks by militants who object to the country's oil wealth leaving their region.
Nigeria is Africa's leading oil exporter and the fifth-biggest source of US oil imports.
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