Nigeria militants claim to hijack chemical tanker

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s main militant group said Monday it had seized a chemical tanker with six foreign crew members aboard and had attacked a second oil facility following a vow to step up the intensity of its attacks.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an e-mail statement that the tanker was seized Sunday about 20 nautical miles from Escravos in the south of the country and would be held until further notice.

It said three of those aboard are Russian, two are from the Philippines and the sixth crew member is from India.

“Their arrest is meant to serve as a warning to others that there are root issues that have to be resolved with the Nigerian government before normalcy can resume,” the group said in its statement.

More than 200 foreign workers have been taken captive in the restive Niger Delta since violence increased in 2006, with most released unharmed after a ransom is paid.

The militants’ claim came a day after they vowed to carry out “phased attacks that increase in intensity until its goal has been achieved” as part of an operation dubbed Hurricane Moses.

The militants say they are fighting to force the federal government to devote more oil-industry funds to the southern region, which remains deeply poor despite its natural bounty.

But the government considers most of the militants criminals who use politics to mask their true intentions — the lucrative theft and overseas sale of crude oil stolen from Nigeria’s network of wells and pipelines.

Last month, the Nigerian government announced a 60-day amnesty for militants willing to turn themselves in. But the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta dismissed the offer, saying an amnesty should be aimed at criminals, not “freedom fighters,” and stressing that its own members would not negotiate now.

Also Monday, the group claimed it had destroyed a strategic Chevron facility late Sunday. Chevron Nigeria Ltd. confirmed there had been a breach in offshore operations in Delta State.

“No one was hurt as a result of the breach and, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, we are working to ensure the safety of our people, restore the integrity of our operations and are not speculating on any comment while investigations are being undertaken,” the company said in a statement.

The militants’ claim came a day after the militants said they had attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil facility. Shell spokesman Tony Okonedo said “there was a report of an attack on our facility and we are still investigating.”

Past militant attacks on oil infrastructure in the area have trimmed output in Africa’s biggest oil producer by about 25 percent.