Wednesday, July 04, 2007

OIL WORKERS KIDNAPPED IN NIGERIA !

Unknown gunmen have attacked and snatched five foreign workers from an oil rig in Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta, security sources say.
The attack comes a day after the main militant group in the area said it had called off a month-long truce.
But the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) says it has nothing to do with this new attack.
The hostages - two New Zealanders, an Australian, a Venezuelan and a Lebanese - were captured in Soku, Rivers state.
More than 100 foreigners have been taken hostage so far this year alone in the region.
The hostages are usually released unharmed after ransom payments that the Nigerian government and oil companies involved always deny.
Ceasefire
Earlier on Monday, another clash between the militants and the Nigerian Navy also left two junior officers missing and a gunboat destroyed.
"Two of our men are missing, but we are currently searching for them," Nigerian Navy spokesman Capt Obiora Medani told the BBC News website.
On Tuesday, Mend announced that it would not extend its month-long ceasefire called to give the new government a chance to set up talks on the restive region.
The group said it had been kept on the sidelines of government-led talks about the future of the highly impoverished Niger Delta.
It also warned it would resume its attacks on oil installations and the kidnappings of foreign oil workers.
The militants are campaigning for larger control of revenues coming from oil exploration in their region.
Although the Niger Delta accounts for over 90% of Nigeria's income, the region remains highly impoverished, a situation the militants say they want to change with their campaign.
BBC NEWS REPORT.

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