Pirates hijack gunboat in Niger Delta, kidnap workers

Pirates in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta hijacked a police gunboat, killed three officers and kidnapped at least nine local oil workers, the military said Tuesday. It is the latest in a spate of attacks in the creeks of Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta region since last Thursday. Most of those kidnapped were local workers in Africa’s biggest oil industry, where piracy in the surrounding waterways and seas is on the rise again after a brief lull, bucking a global trend that has seen pirate attacks fall elsewhere.

Sea pirates attacked and killed three of our men. They were escorting an Agip [General Italian Oil Company] barge when they were attacked. We have recovered their bodies and the gunboat.

Police commissioner for Bayelsa state, Valentine Ntomchukwu

Agip officials were not immediately available for comment. Earlier on Friday, unknown gunmen attacked a boat and abducted six personnel from a local oil services company in the Nembe local government area. On Thursday, around seven pirates on a speedboat boarded a supply vessel, kidnapping the ship’s master and its chief engineer. Oil workers are usually held for ransom and released unharmed.

Africa Niger Pirates