Nigeria militants claim to free leader

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – The main militant group in Nigeria’s restive, oil-rich south said dozens of its heavily armed forces raided a prison Sunday and freed one of their leaders.

Officials in the oil-industry center of Port Harcourt confirmed there was a prison break, but did not say who escaped. Officials said one passer-by died when the militants exploded dynamite to break through the prison walls.

Several other civilians were injured, but no security forces were hurt, said Felix Ugbaudu, police commissioner of Rivers state where the attack occurred.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said about 50 of its fighters freed the group leader and spirited him back into the vast region of swamps and creeks where most of the crude in Africa’s biggest oil producer is pumped. The military sent armored personnel carriers and gunships against the militants, the movement said.

AP