Militants overrun oilfield in Nigeria - sources

LAGOS, June 17 (Reuters) Gunmen overran a Nigerian oilfield station operated by Italy's Eni roday, holding 12 workers hostage, company and security sources said.

The militants invaded the Ogbainbiri flow station in Bayelsa state, which normally produces 40,000 barrels a day, after a gunfight with soldiers guarding the facility. The number of casualties was not immediately known.

''Militants took over the Agip facility by 0500 this morning,'' a security source said. Agip is a unit of Eni.

A company official confirmed the invasion and said 12 staff and contractors -- all Nigerian -- were being held hostage at the facility.

The invasion was apparently in response to the killing of eight people by troops guarding Ogbainbiri last week. The military said the dead were militants who tried to attack the oilfield, but a militant group said they were mostly unarmed civilians.

Reuters PJ RN2127