OIL WORKERS KIDNAPPED IN NIGERIA.

Oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria.

Much of Nigeria's oil comes from the Niger Delta. Four foreign oil workers have been kidnapped in southern Nigeria. An armed group boarded a boat in the EA oil field and seized the men, said a spokesman for oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. Shell has not said where the hostages come from but they reportedly include one Briton and one Honduran.

Such attacks are common in the Niger Delta region, where local groups complain they do not see the benefits of the area's oil wealth. Ransom demands are often made in similar cases and the hostages are usually released unharmed. Shell is in dispute with villages near the EA field, who accuse it of reneging on promises to undertake development projects, reports the AP news agency.

Other oil workers, both foreign and Nigerian, have been seized in the area, before being released. Nigeria remains plagued by appalling poverty despite being the world's eighth largest oil producer and the largest in Africa.

BBC NEWS REPORT,