Foreigners abducted in Nigeria
2006-02-18 14:26
Lagos - Nigerian militants launched a
string of attacks on the world's eighth largest oil exporter on
Saturday, abducting nine foreign workers, bombing a major oil
tanker terminal and sabotaging two pipelines.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said
the raids were a response to military helicopter gunship attacks
on villages in Delta state earlier this week and would be
followed by another wave of attacks "on a grander scale".
"We decided in response to pleas from our kin in these
communities, to carry out strikes against oil and gas facilities
in Delta state," the group said in an e-mail.
The armed militants stormed an offshore oil services barge
operated by US oil services company Willbros and abducted nine
foreign workers - three Americans, one Briton, two Thais, two
Egyptians and a Filipino.
"These individuals and facilities were well guarded by a
large number of soldiers who resisted for an embarrassingly
short period before escaping to ensure their personal safeties,"
the group said in an e-mail, naming all nine hostages.
A senior oil industry source said Royal Dutch Shell
suspended loadings at the 380 000 barrel-a-day Forcados terminal
after militants bombed the tanker loading platform.
The company is still trying to ascertain the damage to the
platform, which is located 5 km offshore, but has
already begun shutting oilfields in the area which feed the
terminal, the source added.
Militants also attacked a major Shell crude oil pipeline at
Ekeremor-Yeye, and a gas pipeline running from the delta to a
refinery in northern Nigeria operated by state-run Nigeria
National Petroleum Corp.
The impact on operations was not immediately clear.