20101203
reuters

WARRI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Several civilians have been killed and scores displaced during raids by the Nigerian military against armed gangs in the creeks of the oil-producing Niger Delta, local residents said on Friday.

A military taskforce (JTF) comprising the army, navy and air force began raiding three camps which are believed to belong to a notorious gang leader in Delta state on Thursday, close to the Ayakoroma and Okrika communities.

The military had warned weeks ago that it would launch strikes against suspected militant gangs in the Niger Delta, where they have in recent years severely disrupted Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, and urged civilians living in the vicinity of their camps to leave.

"My husband is dead, also my two brothers are dead. There is nowhere to go now," said Aunty Polobiri, one of scores of women sheltering in a warehouse outside the city of Warri who said they had fled the fighting around Ayakoroma.

The camps lie deep in the creeks and it was not immediately possible to confirm independently whether civilians had been killed. The security forces have a tense relationship with some local communities and in the past there have been claims of high death tolls which could not subsequently be verified.

Preye Onduku, a member of the Ayakoroma community development committee, told Reuters at least five people had been killed and about 100 had fled in dug-out canoes.

"Some of them have gunshot wounds and one of them is now receiving treatment at the general hospital in Warri," he said.

The Red Cross said it had received reports of casualties but was not immediately able to reach the scene of the fighting because of its remoteness. It said the military had since given it access and a team was travelling to the camps.