Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Rival militant gangs in Nigeria's Niger Delta fought a gun battle in the main oil city of Port Harcourt yesterday, security officials and aid workers said.
Ten people who sustained gunshot wounds in the clashes were brought to a clinic operated by French aid group Doctors Without Borders last night, Alex Thomson, a security official at the facility, said in an interview today.
Soldiers moved into the Borokiri area soon after the fighting started and the gang members fled, said Lieutenant- Colonel Sagir Musa, a spokesman for the government's joint military task force in the Rivers State. Only one person was hurt, he said.
The rival gangs are led by Sogboma George and Prince Farah, who are wanted by the Rivers State government for kidnapping and involvement in other criminal activities, police spokeswoman Rita Abbey said.
Attacks by The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a Nigerian militant group, have halted about 20 percent of Nigeria's production since 2006 and helped push oil prices to record highs.
Bloomberg
