(AP) _ Assailants attacked a Nigerian navy vessel Monday in the country’s restive southern oil region, leaving one sailor dead and several wounded, officials said.
� The boat was providing security for oil companies when it was boarded by unknown attackers who took control of the bridge, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said.
� The boat later returned to port with its eight soldiers aboard, Musa said. However, the company that contracted the vessel, Addax Petroleum Corp., said one soldier had died in the attack and that four other naval personnel had been injured.
� The region’s most-potent militant outfit, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, said it was not responsible for the attack.
� Attacks on the oil industry and security forces protecting them are common in the region, where the crude is pumped in Africa’s biggest producer. Militants are agitating for more petroleum funds for their impoverished region, but politics and crime are closely intermingled.
� Nigeria’s southern waters now have the greatest number of pirate attacks than anywhere in the world, as the military force charged with calming the region pushes criminals out of the cities and into the region’s creeks and swamps.
� Hijackings and kidnappings usually end peacefully after a ransom is paid, although deaths and injuries have occurred when security forces battle the attackers.
� Attacks on the oil industry have trimmed nearly one quarter of Nigeria’s production in the past two years, helping drive worldwide crude prices to historical highs.
Jun92008