Pirates kill three Nigerian soldiers in attack on vessel in oil region

Pirates attacked a vessel carrying construction workers in the creeks of Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta, killing three government security agents escorting the vessel, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Gunmen 

"At about 1.00 pm (1200 hrs GMT.) on Tuesday, three of our soldiers fell into an ambush of sea robbers while on escort duty of three Civilian Staff of Z CUBE Construction Company, moving from the end of New Road to Ikuru Town in Andoni LGA of Rivers state," Onyema Nwachukwu, spokesman for Nigeria's special military unit in the Niger Delta, the Joint Task Force saids.
The workers were on their way to a road project owned by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a government agency set up to fast-track development in the restive region.
Nwachukwu said one of the construction workers and the boat operator were injured during the attack, adding that the military have launched a hunt for the pirates.
Increasing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea region, which includes Africa's top oil producer Nigeria, is driving up costs for shipping firms operating there.
In August, the Nigerian Navy killed 12 pirates during an attempted hijack of an oil vessel in the Niger Delta's Forcados area.
Data released by the International Maritime Bureau last week showed that Nigeria remained the main source of piracy in the region with 29 attacks on vessels recorded in the first nine months of 2013, up from 21 in the same period last year.