Pirates Attack Exxon Vessel In Nigeria

Reuters:

Pirates attacked a vessel operated by oil major ExxonMobil in the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria on Tuesday, killing a crew member and injuring another, private security contractors working in the oil industry said.

Attacks by politically motivated rebels in the delta, who last year shut down a fifth of Nigerian oil production, have subsided since a new president took office in May but armed robbers and pirates still stage sporadic raids in the creeks.

Details of Tuesday's incident were sketchy, as is often the case with Niger Delta attacks, but three security contractors said about seven or eight gunmen in a speedboat boarded the Seamark vessel on the Bonny river, in Rivers state.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[BC33]

Hmmm, Bush can add the Pirates to his Axis Of Evil list. And the war on terror continues. Yeah!

[sparkey]

Oil prices are going down. It's very interesting that pirates attacked the ship. Exxon is now justified in raising their prices for gas. They can claim they need the extra money for gaurds on their ships. This is just so they can make sure the American public gets the gas it needs. It isn't to increase profits. It will probably be found out later that the pirates were paid by Exxon to attack the ship so that Exxon can increase prices.

[SouthJerseySteve]

Johnny Depp is doing another sequel?

[nomoredead]

Soooo...pirates attacking pirates.

[smokeystover39]

Was it the EXXON "Valdez"? Pay back for the damage this corporate criminal visited on Price William Sound (in Alaska)? HMMMM

[godlessclif]

Exxon can afford to buy an aircraft carrier.

"Exxon should stop stealing Nigerian oil. That way they can stay out of the Civil War."..Clif

BBC reporter"When I asked him why, in an oil-rich country, over half of all Nigerians, or more than 60 million people, lived in abject poverty, Otive Igbuzor replied in a clear, powerful voice.":

"Poverty in Nigeria is man-made, he said, it was not due to any lack of resources.

The causes were:
one, colonialism,
two, exploitative capitalism
and, three, the failure of Nigerian politicians who were often the local collaborators of multinational corporations"...Otive Igbuzor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6908754.stm

[wm1066]

This looks like its very politically motivated and that makes the pirates 'freedom fighters' not pirates. Unless its only about the money then they're pirates.

[Alvin4NY]

Jesus, I'm really getting cynical. Why did I smile when I read this headline?

[wadenelson1]

Exxon can easily afford to put a contingent of Blackwater on all their boats.