Nigerian security forces clashed with oil militants and Biafran secessionists in separate confrontations Monday that killed at least 20 civilians and two police officers, officials and witnesses said.
Over the weekend, soldiers fired on speedboats believed to be carrying members of the Niger Delta Avengers, a group that has claimed attacks on key oil pipelines, and killed or wounded an unknown number, army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman said.
The Ijaw Youth Council, a community group, said soldiers fired Saturday on a speedboat trying to evacuate civilians hurt in a military siege of Oporoza.
Elsewhere, security forces battled secessionists rallying to commemorate the 1967-1970 civil war to create a separate state in southeast Nigeria.