Mysterious ‘Gunmen’ Overrun Nigerian Oilfield
Charles Johnson
Sun Jun 17, 2007 at 9:53 am PDT • Views: 163
This could be another attack by the Religion of Peace™, but we can’t be sure because Reuters has carefully avoided telling us anything specific: Militants overrun oilfield in Nigeria - sources.
LAGOS, June 17 (Reuters) - Gunmen overran a Nigerian oilfield station operated by Italy’s Eni on Sunday, holding 12 workers hostage, company and security sources said.
The militants invaded the Ogbainbiri flow station in Bayelsa state, which normally produces 40,000 barrels a day, after a gunfight with soldiers guarding the facility. The number of casualties was not immediately known.
“Militants took over the Agip facility by 0500 this morning,” a security source said. Agip is a unit of Eni.
A company official confirmed the invasion and said 12 staff and contractors — all Nigerian — were being held hostage at the facility.
UPDATE at 6/17/07 6:08:36 pm:
LGF reader Mardukhai says the perpetrators are local Nigerian scam artists, working the “hostage” angle:
This is a longstanding, protracted labor and political dispute between the Rivers area of southeastern Nogeria — which is almost entirely Christian — and the central government hundreds of miles away.
The “militants” want a share of oil money spent on local people.
It’s all a publicity stunt. The “hostages” are oil workers who know they won’t be harmed, and play along. After a few days, the “militants” disappear.
Frank says: