While piracy attacks off the coast of unstable Somalia have garnered lots of attention in recent years, maritime security experts say it is on Africa’s western coast, in the oil rich Gulf of Guinea, where piracy attacks are currently on the rise.   Militants hidden behind bandanas from Nigeria’s Niger Delta oil region fire machine guns into the water from a speeding boat during a recent show of force staged for media. Their usual attacks range from stealing oil to kidnapping offshore oil workers for ransom. Maritime security experts say these militants, who have been active for years have now inspired other pirates to arm themselves and stage lucrative attacks, up and down the coast of West Africa, off of Cameroon and more recently Equatorial Guinea, Togo and new oil producer Ghana. Off the coast of another targeted country Benin, more than 20 pirate attacks were reported this year, after none in 2010

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Piracy Rises in Oil-Rich West Africa