Nigerian militants seize oil vessel with 8 sailors

LAGOS (Reuters) - Armed militants in southern Nigeria ambushed an oil vessel belonging to Canada's Addax Petroleum Corp. on Monday and are holding eight naval personnel on board, a navy spokesman said.

"Some naval ratings escorting an Addax boat were ambushed by militants who boarded the ship. There was limited exchange of gunfire because of the combustible nature of the cargo," Nigerian navy spokesman Henry Babalola said.

He said the vessel had left the Calabar area near Nigeria's southeastern border with Cameroon and was heading towards Onne in Rivers state, part of the Niger Delta which is home to Africa's biggest oil industry.

"We have asked for the commander in the Port Harcourt area to send reinforcements to rescue the ship," Babalola said, referring to the main city in the delta.

One private security contractor said 12 sailors had been seized in the ambush.

Militants who say they are fighting for greater local control of the delta's natural resources launched a campaign of violent sabotage against the oil industry in early 2006 which has forced the world's eighth-biggest exporter to cut output.

The line between political agitation and criminality has become blurred, with gangs kidnapping oil workers for ransom and funding themselves by stealing crude oil.

President Umaru Yar'Adua's year-old administration has said it plans to hold a summit with Niger Delta communities to try to address the root causes of the unrest but has also promised a crackdown on militant camps in the region.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080609/wl_nm/nigeria_militants_attack_dc;_ylt=AmLRlj3ZiURGjcNGpkLClr5vaA8F

Every fool knows that the Nigerian Army are completely useless. the owner of the vessel should have arrange the own private security.

as for the militant, let them keep the vessel, its their own share of the national cake. after all the government says were losing N240 million daily to corruption.

Every Nigeria has the right to take anything as his own share of the national cake.

The line between political agitation and criminality has become blurred, with gangs kidnapping oil workers for ransom and funding themselves by stealing crude oil.

who is buying the crude oil from these people?