Some gunmen have attacked two oil vessels in Nigeria's restive Niger Delta on Thursday, kidnapping a Russian, a Mexican and seven Nigerians. This happened in separate incidents according to information from security sources working in the industry.

While the vessel Oceanic Orion was attacked some 13 nautical miles off the coast of Akwa Ibom state near a crude oil rig operated by Canada's Addax Petroleum, theTiger Fish, which belongs to Hercules Offshore Ltd, was hijacked around the Sombreiro River area.

Before now there has been an outcry for the Nigeria government to regulate and put under check the various nefarious activities of militants in the troubled Niger Delta region and at the same time put pirate activities at the lowest ebb.

Piracy is common in the Gulf of Guinea off Nigeria's Atlantic coast while attacks on oil industry facilities and kidnappings for ransom are frequent in the creeks of the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.

The insecurity has cut Nigeria's oil output, which averages around 2 million barrels per day (bpd), by a fifth over the past three years. The country's installed production capacity is around 3 million bpd.

Battle for the control of crude oil from the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria has no doubt claimed so many lives, and has increased the rate of insecurity and militancy in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. Also, this has cut short the supply of oil in the world as Nigeria is one of the world's largest oil producers. See more reports