2010-04-06
MALABO (Reuters) - Seven Nigerians have been sentenced by a court in Equatorial Guinea to 12 years in jail for their role in a seaborne attack last year on the presidential palace in the oil-producing nation.

Carried out on February 17, 2009, the attack against the palace on Equatorial Guinea's island capital Malabo was blamed on gunmen from Nigeria's Niger Delta, and underscored security threats across the Gulf of Guinea region.

The gunmen shot their way into the palace but were repelled by security forces backed by helicopter gunships.

The sentence was announced in a statement on the website of Equatorial Guinea's government. A group of locals who were suspected of guiding the Nigerian gunmen via mobile phones were acquitted due to lack of proof, said the statement, which was dated April 5.

Gunmen operating out of the nearby the Niger Delta have become increasingly bold, launching seaborne raids on towns, banks and boats in the region. Delta militants have denied any role in the Equatorial Guinea attack.

The statement said that the government would pay for damages resulting from the attack. Costs linked to damaged infrastructure were put at nearly 80 billion CFA francs and an additional $143,100 would be paid to compensate those wounded in the attack.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled the former Spanish colony, which pumps around 250,000 barrels of oil per day, since he toppled his uncle in a palace coup in 1979.