(AP) _ An explosion apparently caused by an electrical fault at a naval shipyard in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern region has killed at least two sailors and wounded several others, a navy spokesman said on Friday.
Maj. Sagir Musa said a boatload of naval officers was about to go on patrol when one of them attempted to fix a problem with the ship’s wiring. The resulting explosion at the NNS Pathfinder shipyard in the oil hub of Port Harcourt killed at least two people, he said, and destroyed three boats and a barge.
“It is purely an accident triggered by an electrical mishap,” he said.
Militant groups and criminal gangs frequently attack the navy and the region’s oil industry, and have used bombs before, but the Nigerian armed services are hampered in their fight against them partly because they often use outdated or badly maintained equipment.
The restive delta region produces a fifth of America’s oil imports and makes Nigeria the largest oil exporter in Africa. But poverty, corruption and lawlessness have fueled the region’s long-running conflict.