Ethnic Conflict Leaves 50 Dead

More than 200 armed youths in speedboats attacked a coastal village in Nigeria, killing 50 people and injuring 87, according to news reports. A newspaper quoted one witness as saying ethnic Ijaw fighters beheaded three elderly Itsekiri people in the village of Arunton. The witness said helicopters owned by oil companies airlifted many of the victims to a hospital in Warri and were trying to evacuate other survivors. The attackers razed at least 27 houses near an oil depot as part of an ongoing ethnic conflict in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.