Gunmen kidnap eight expats off oil vessel in Nigeria
LAGOS (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped eight foreign oil workers from a vessel off Nigeria's Niger Delta early on Saturday, bringing to 16 the number of industry workers seized in the past 48 hours, security sources said.
The men were taken from a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker off the mouth of the Bonny river in the delta, a network of mangrove creeks opening into the Gulf of Guinea which is home to Africa's biggest oil industry.
"Around six heavily armed bandits attacked an LPG tanker, shot two civilians and abducted eight of the expatriates, whose identity is not yet ascertained," said Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, military spokesman in the eastern Niger Delta.
He said the two civilians had been wounded but not killed during the attack, which took place between 1 and 4 a.m. (0000-0300 GMT). He said no group had claimed responsibility but believed the motive was financial.
A private security contractor said the abducted men were thought to be two Russians, five Latvians and one Lithuanian. A second security source said they were believed to have been working for Global Gas and Refining Ltd, a Nigerian subsidiary of U.S.-based Global Energy Inc.
The company could not immediately be reached for comment.
Insecurity in the world's eighth biggest oil exporter has cut Nigeria's oil output by around a fifth since militants launched a campaign of violent sabotage in early 2006 to press for greater development in their neglected communities.
Despite half a century of oil extraction, most villagers in the Niger Delta remain mired in poverty, while the industry has polluted their land and water.
"ALL IS FAIR IN WAR"
Criminal gangs have taken advantage of the breakdown of law and order, funding themselves through a lucrative trade in stolen crude oil and by kidnapping businessmen, local politicians and expatriates for ransom.
More than 200 foreigners have been seized since the militants began their campaign more than two years ago. Almost all have been released unharmed.
In an attack late on Thursday, gunmen took 11 Russians and a Ukrainian on a vessel off Bonny Island. Some were released on Friday but five were still being held, security officials said.
More than a dozen men in speedboats kidnapped two oil engineers, one from the Philippines and one Nigerian, from a vessel in the main industry hub of Port Harcourt on Friday. Another Filipino was seized while buying food on land.
Security sources said it was not clear whether the same group was behind all the kidnappings. No ransom demands have been made publicly.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) -- the region's main militant group which has pledged to bomb oil pipelines over the next few weeks -- did not immediately claim responsibility for Thursday and Friday's attacks.
"None of our units have reported being involved in any kidnapping yet," MEND said in an e-mail to Reuters late on Friday, but said the insecurity would help its campaign.
"These gangs have their advantages even though we do not support their motives and sometimes the modus. The truth is that all is fair in war, as they have a way of frustrating the military and helping them lose focus," it said.
(Additional reporting by Randy Fabi in Abuja; editing by Mary Gabriel)
