Unidentified attackers shot dead at least seven football supporters as they drove to watch their team play its arch rival in Nigeria’s restive south, police said today.

MILITANTS holding nine foreign hostages in Southern Nigeria destroyed an oil pipeline yesterday and blew up a boat in violence that has cut about 20% of crude production in Africa’s oil giant.

Militants holding nine foreign hostages in southern Nigeria said they attacked another oil facility today and blew up a military vessel in ongoing violence that has cut about 20% of crude production in Africa’s oil giant.

Royal Dutch/Shell Group has warned squatters living near its pipelines to leave the area, in an effort to avoid a repeat of an explosion which three years ago left hundreds dead.