Another oil worker abducted

2006-08-16 22:14

Lagos - Armed kidnappers in Nigeria's volatile but oil-rich Niger Delta on Wednesday ignored a stern warning from President Olusegun Obasanjo and abducted another expatriate worker, bringing to six the total number of foreign workers being held.

Obasanjo on Tuesday promised to deal "firmly" with kidnappers of foreign oil workers.

"We are going to be firm and say no to violence and hostage-taking...

"Wherever we find hostage-takers now, we will hunt them down.

"We will not accept this any longer."

He said that armed forces and the police had been directed to meet criminal elements in the Niger Delta "force with force".

Despite the warning, gunmen near the oil city of Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State, on Wednesday abducted a Lebanese construction worker on his way to work.

Taken to an unknown location

The spokesperson for a major oil group said: "The man is an employee of Homan Engineering Company.

"He was abducted from his car and taken to an unknown location."

He said Homan is an oilfield and steel construction services firm based in Port Harcourt, the scene of a spate of kidnappings in recent weeks.

Rivers police spokesperson Ireju Barasua said the man was abducted by five armed men near Port Harcourt.

"The man is a construction worker. He was kidnapped early this morning.

"His vehicle was blocked by the gunmen as he was going to a construction site.

"We do not yet know his whereabouts. We are still searching for him," said a senior official in the company, who identified himself simply as retired squadron leader Sule.

The past weeks have seen about 15 foreign oil workers taken prisoner in the west African country, and nine of them have been released this week.

German worker seized

On Monday in Port Harcourt four workers - an American, a Briton, a German and an Irishman - were abducted from a popular bar in the centre of the city.

Another German worker was seized in the city on August 3.

The previously unknown Movement for the Niger Delta People (MONDP) claimed responsibility for the earlier kidnapping.

MONDP demanded the release of two local leaders standing trial for corruption and treasonable offence in exchange for his freedom.

No claims of responsibility have been made for Monday's abductions.

The German foreign ministry on Tuesday published a travel warning for its nationals planning to go to the Niger Delta.

Nigerian security agents have launched an aggressive manhunt for the kidnappers.

There will be no hiding place

"We have moved into action following the president's directive," said national police spokesperson Haz Iwendi earlier on Wednesday.

"From now on, there will be no hiding place for the criminals."

The Nigerian government on Wednesday arraigned four suspects at a high court in Abuja and charged them with the kidnapping of expatriates as well as engaging in terrorist acts in the Niger Delta, said a court official.

Since January, about 40 expatriate oil workers have been abducted and released after spending days or weeks in captivity.

- SAPA