Another Nigerian Oil Worker Killed

A Nigerian oil worker was killed during an attack on ships belonging to the Italian oil company Agip in the Niger Delta, the company said Thursday.

Agip, a subsidiary of the Italian oil giant Eni, said in a statement that "armed men in five boats" Wednesday attacked a convoy of seven boats ferrying supplies and food from Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt to the southern city of Brass.

A Nigerian employee of Agip was "accidentally hit by the assailants, who were targeting the engines, and was killed during the attack," the statement said.

Some 40 other people on the Agip vessels -- workers, military escorts and crew members -- were unhurt. The attack was repelled by Nigerian troops patrolling the region's waterways to protect oil vessels and facilities amid a rise in militant attacks in recent months.

In one week alone, at least 23 Nigerian military personnel were killed while more than 30 foreign and local oil workers were kidnapped by separatists seeking a greater share of Nigeria's huge oil wealth.