Nigerian militants say they kidnapped oil workers

LAGOS, June 7 (Reuters) A coalition of Nigerian militant groups claimed responsibility for an attack on an oil facility in the Niger Delta today, and demanded the release of two jailed ethnic Ijaw leaders.

The Joint Revolutionary Council, which said it comprised members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and two splinter groups from another movement, said it had taken five oil workers hostage, sunk a naval gunboat and destroyed a drilling rig and a naval houseboat.

There were several casualties it said, without elaborating.

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