LAGOS (Reuters) - Gunmen in southern Nigeria attacked an oil facility belonging to Canada's Addax Petroleum on Tuesday, killing at least one person, in the second such attack on the firm in as many days, the Nigerian navy said.
"There was a second attack off Qua Iboe river on an Addaxfacility today. One civilian was killed, two injured. One navalpersonnel was injured too," Nigerian navy spokesman HenryBabalola said.
Strikes on oil facilities are frequent in the labyrinthinecreeks of the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oilindustry, and initial reports of attacks are often confused.
A senior state security official in the region, who askednot to be named, said the latest attack had targeted an Addaxvessel rather than an oil facility and that one navy seaman hadbeen killed and three wounded.
Addax officials were not immediately available for comment.
In the first attack in the early hours of Monday morning,gunmen in speedboats stormed a security vessel contracted toAddax, killing one navy seamen and injuring several othersbefore being repelled by military reinforcements.
Addax said it believed Monday's attack had been carried outby criminals seeking personal gain, rather than by politicallymotivated militants.
Militant groups who say they are fighting for greater localcontrol of the delta's natural resources launched a campaign ofviolent sabotage against the oil industry in early 2006 whichhas forced the world's eighth-biggest exporter to cut output.
President Umaru Yar'Adua's year-old administration has saidit plans to hold a summit with Niger Delta communities to tryto address the root causes of the unrest but has also promiseda crackdown on militant camps in the region.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ )
(Reporting by Nick Tattersall, additional reporting byAustin Ekeinde in Port Harcourt; Editing by Caroline Drees)
