THREE workers were killed this week in an attack on an Eni team restoring mangroves in the restive Bayelsa State, Nigeria, according to the Italian company. News of the deaths came just days after a new Ijaw militant group staged an attack on Eni oil facilities in Rivers State, with further assaults threatened in coming days if the Italian major does not immediately start talks with disgruntled locals. These killings and attacks mark an escalation in violence, destruction and kidnappings in the often restive Niger Delta. Commenting on the fatal ambush, a spokesperson for the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) told Reuters: "During routine work some gunmen attacked some contract workers working on [repairs to a] Nembe axis of Obama flow station killing two contract workers and a driver." The spokesperson added that an NSCDC employee was also killed and two others who sustained injuries are receiving treatment.
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