Militants Attack State Govt in Nigeria Oil Delta

Militants are apparently angry at attacked government buildings in Nigeria's oil region on Friday on the eve of presidential elections

Militants apparently angry at vote-rigging attacked government buildings in Nigeria's oil region on Friday on the eve of presidential elections.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were heard across the Bayelsa state capital as militants armed with dynamite and assault rifles attacked a police headquarters, an electoral office and state government buildings, all located at one end of town.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

"There is heavy gunfire and explosions in the area of government house. The ground is shaking," Reuters photographer George Esiri said from the scene.

The gunfire started at a waterside jetty, used by small ferries serving the maze of creeks which are home to Africa's largest oil industry, and moved quickly to the administrative heart of the state capital, Yenagoa.

The governor of Bayelsa state, Goodluck Jonathan, is the vice presidential candidate for the ruling People's Democratic Party. It was not clear whether he was in his office at the time of the attack.

An Ijaw activist said he had spoken to militants involved in the attack who said they were angry about rigging in Nigeria's election for state governors a week ago.

Baylesa is the home of the Ijaw ethnic group, which has been at the forefront of an armed insurgency against the federal government to demand more autonomy and a greater share of oil revenues.

"They said there was no voting in Ijawland. The Ijaw people were disregarded and they don't want that," the Ijaw activist told Reuters by phone, asking not to be named.

Militant attacks on Western oil installations have forced Nigeria to reduce exports by a fifth for more than a year, and kidnappings of foreign oil workers in the Niger Delta are an almost weekly occurrence.

(Reuters)