Soldiers, militants exchange fire in Nigerian oil region

AFP

11 May 2011

Soldiers, militants exchange fire in Nigerian oil region

LAGOS — Soldiers and militants exchanged gunfire in an area of Nigeria's main oil-producing region in an incident the army said may have been linked to recent elections.

A spokesman for a military task force in the Niger Delta region on Wednesday said militants suspected to be linked to a notorious gang leader, John Togo, opened fire on a patrol and soldiers shot back. He could not say if there were casualties.

"Shots were fired on a (task force) patrol and fire was returned," said the spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Antigha, of the incident that occurred in Delta state.

He said the task force had warned a couple of days ago of politicians in the state unhappy with the election results colluding with others "to threaten security."