Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said: "I can confirm that some of our troops on board the Sterling Global Oil Resources Limited ran into an ambush along the Angiama-Etelibiri waterways ... of the state.
"There was a shoot-out between the unknown gunmen and our troops. Two of our men lost their lives and two other civilians (were) injured," he told journalists.
Local resident Ebilade Tuoyor claimed said that three soldiers and a civilian were killed in the gun duel, which lasted for about four hours.
Troops were deployed to the area and efforts were underway to find the gunmen, Nwachukwu said.
Officials at Sterling Global, a oil and gas exploration company in Lagos, could not be reached for comment on the attack.
Suspected oil thieves last September shot dead three employees of Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC in a village near Lagos.
The three technicians had been dispatched to the village of Arepo to repair a pipeline damaged by vandals.
Militant-related unrest declined sharply after a 2009 amnesty deal with oil rebels but groups who claim to be fighting on behalf of impoverished communities and gangs have persisted in attacking oil infrastructure and vessels.
Culled from AFP
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