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Port Harcourt death toll rises



By Upstream staff 

Gang fighting in the oil city of Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria continued over the weekend, with local media reporting at least 10 deaths on Saturday alone.

The Lagos-based Daily Champion newspaper reported that Saturday's dead included three policemen and a security guard.

The gang war that erupted on Monday has spread throughout the city, with street gun battles breaking out several kilometres apart.

"We heard gunshots and dynamite blasts during the night and it went on for hours. When dawn broke we saw that the (Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation) mega-station had been hit," a resident of the Lagos Bus Stop area said, referring to a state-run filling station.

The official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that fighters had also thrown dynamite at a radio station run by the government of Rivers state.

NAN said troops had cordoned off the area and helicopters were circling above.

Official sources have confirmed 11 deaths over the six days of violence, a Reuters report said, although residents and media put the death toll much higher.

Nigeria's chief of police, Mike Okiro, flew down to Port Harcourt to hold emergency meetings with the Rivers state governor and local army commander.

He told reporters authorities planned to "clamp down" on the gangs.

Residents said most of the victims were bystanders, Reuters reported.


Monday, 13 August, 2007, 01:37 GMT  | last updated: Monday, 13 August, 2007, 07:00 GMT

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