More trouble reported in oil region

Reports that several people died in clashes this week between the navy and armed militants in southeastern Nigeria have been carried by the media, confirmed by area residents, but denied by a senior military official.

The clashes were said to have broken out on Monday when armed militants attempted to board an offshore oil rig near Brass Island, just off the Atlantic coast. "The naval contingent based at the Brass facilities of Agip oil company responded to a distress call from the rig and engaged the militants in a shoot-out," Nimi Eke-Spiff, a resident of the island, told IRIN. He said at least seven people, including five of the militants and two members of the navy, were reported killed during the incidents.

Other residents of the region reported that further clashes occurred on Tuesday when security forces stormed the nearby community of Lilama in search of boats which the youths had allegedly taken from an oil company. An unspecified number of people died as armed militants exchanged fire with the government forces. Hundreds of people were said to have fled the area.

However, Colonel Felix Chukwuma, the military spokesman in Lagos, denied that any military operations had taken place recently in the region. "I'm not aware that the army was involved in any operation as described in the region," he told journalists on Thursday.

The affected area is part of the Niger Delta where, where over the past decade, armed militants have frequently attacked oil facilities, taking hostages and disrupting operations, to back demands for amenities and more access to the oil wealth generated from their region.