LAGOS, June 6: Nigerian security forces patrolling the Warri waterway in the restive Niger delta region have shot dead 17 sea pirates following a shootout, a military spokesman said on Sunday.

The pirates were killed on Friday at Pere-Otugbene in Warri when they ran into soldiers of the security outfit Operation Restore Hope, spokesman for the patrol, Major Ahmed Said, said.

He said 25 militants engaged the patrol team in the gun battle before 17 were killed. "Our men shot 17 of them dead, while the rest fell into the waters. We can't say what became of them. They may have drowned," he said.

"Their bodies were brought to Warri for everybody to see. It was a successful operation by our men," he added. Said said the troops also sank the speed boats used by the pirates for their criminal activities on the waters.

Earlier, a military assistant to the commander of the security patrol Brigadier-General Elias Zamani, had said the bandits were trying to rob passengers on boats when they were intercepted.

"Luck ran out for the hoodlums when members of Operation Restore Hope ran into them while trying to rob passengers of their possessions on two boats on the way to Burutu," he said. "As soon as they sighted the soldiers, they opened fired and 17 of them were gunned down," he said. He said the troops did not record any casualties. -AFP