Nine foreign oil workers abducted in Nigeria

Nigerian militants on Saturday abducted nine foreigner oil workers for a subcontractor of the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell in the country's restive south, Shell spokesmen said.

"I can confirm the kidnap the kidnap, we have that report, but I don't have details," the spokesman told Xinhua. Another Shell spokesman said the workers were abducted from a barge, operated by U.S. oil services company Willbros.

Militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which held hostages four foreign oil workers for 19 days last month, in an email statement, claimed responsibility for the kidnap.

They identified the workers as three Americans, a Briton, two Egyptians, two Thais and one Filipino.

The militants also said they attacked four oil industry facilities, including a pipeline and a loading platform at the Forcados export terminal, in retaliation for air strikes by the military this week at the Gbaramatu area of Delta state.

The military, however, said its helicopter gunship on routine air patrol only destroyed several barges being used by oil smugglers at Gbaramatu, but community leaders said three Ijaw villages of Ukpogbene, Seingbene and Perezouweikoregbene were attacked allegedly for harboring the militants.

Nigeria is the biggest oil producer in Africa with a daily output of 2.5 million barrels, but the situation in the country's southern oil-producing Niger Delta region is turbulent.

Villagers there accuse oil firms of not doing anything to develop the impoverished area. As a result, they frequently shut off oil wells, kidnap oil workers or commit other forms of violence to blackmail companies operating in the oil fields.

Source: Xinhua