Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Nigerian venture said a pipeline manifold was undamaged and no production was affected following a gun battle in which three naval personnel were killed.

``We have received reports of the attack,'' Shell spokeswoman Caroline Wittgen said in an interview from Lagos. ``It was around the Tora manifold in the eastern operation.''

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Musa, commander of the joint military task force in Bayelsa state, said militants attacked the manifold yesterday and attempted to seize the arms and ammunition of the naval personnel guarding the Shell site. No further details were available, Musa said.

Eight militants were also killed during the attack, Reuters reported, citing Henry Babalola, a spokesman for the navy. The battle was the first this year in Bayelsa, one of four states in Nigeria's oil producing region. Militant groups in the area signed a cease-fire agreement with the government last year.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mailed statement today. The group said the action was meant to call attention to the continued imprisonment of one of its leaders.

``This minor attack is to commemorate the fifth month of the incarceration of a peace and environmental activist, Henry Okah, in Angola,'' spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in the statement. ``It also dispels the false impression being given by the Nigerian government to investors that peace has been restored after a fraudulent peace deal.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Ziegler in Lagos at jziegler@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 4, 2008 10:03 EST