Militants from Bilabiri community in Ekeremor local government, Bayelsa State have again kidnapped two expatriate oil workers, an American and a Briton who work for Norway Oil Services, located on Bilabiri coastal waters.
The incident occurred in the wee hours of yesterday when the youths attacked a ship housing the oil workers along the Atlantic coast off the shores of Bayelsa State, paralysing the oil servicing company, contractor to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
The action of the armed youths may not be unconnected with the alleged insensitivity of the oil company towards the plight of the community which has been widely reported by the media of late.
A leader of Bilabiri community, who pleaded anonymity while speaking with Daily Champion, said the militant youths stormed the facility of the company and over-powered the security men guarding the area before whisking them off to Ekeremor.
Investigations by Daily Champion however reveal that no casualty was recorded, but tension is still rising in the locality, as no one could clearly pin down the whereabouts of the hostages, but a close government source intimated our reporter that a delegation has been detailed to effect the release of the hostages; even as the Bayelsa Volunteer, a security outfit in the state has also dispatched its personnel to to the area so as to assist the police and other security outfits.
Only recently, the state governor, Goodluck Jonathan said the state government would establish a special fund to cater for the problems of oil bearing communities in the state, adding that security would also be beefed up in the state in order to reduce issues of hostage taking to the bearest minimum; while calling on the oil companies to be more alive to their responsibilities to avoid cases of friction between them and their host communities.
When contacted,State Police Commissioner, Hafiz Ringim, said he was not aware of the incident.
Last Saturday, armed youths of Benisede community, Ekeremor local government shut down the flow station belonging to the Nigeria Agip Oil Company(NAOC) over the Italian firm for failure to honour a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)signed with the host community.
Contacted on the issue, Commander of the military Joint Task Force (ITF) Brig. Gen. Alfred Ilogho confirmed the incident saying he has deployed some troops to Ekeremor community to investigate the kidnap.
Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200611030254.html
LAGOS, Nigeria — Militants in Nigeria are planning a major wave of attacks and kidnappings in the next few days that could include up to 20 simultaneous bombings across the petroleum-rich south, U.S. diplomats warned Friday.
The warning came in an e-mailed statement sent to American citizens from the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, and a U.S. diplomat confirmed plans for new attacks were believed to be under way.
"The U.S. government has learned that as of late October 2006, a militant Niger Delta group may have finalized its plans for a unified attack against oil facilities in the Niger Delta region," the statement said.
"The attacks allegedly will be carried out sometime during the first week of November and will include 10 to 20 simultaneous bombings of land-based targets and a series of separate attacks on oil installations in which expatriate workers will be taken hostage," the statement said without elaborating.
A diplomat at the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press about the issue, confirmed the threat was being taken seriously but had no other details.
The news helped push oil prices higher.
Light sweet crude for December delivery rose 47 cents to $58.35 a barrel in electronic trading Friday morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Since the beginning of this year, various militant groups in Nigeria have attacked oil pipelines and taken expatriate oil workers hostage in violence that has cut about 25 percent of the country's usual crude output of about 2.5 million barrels daily.
The militants say they are fighting on behalf of an impoverished population for a greater share of wealth from oil companies and the federal government, which apportions the revenues among Nigeria's 36 states.
Nigeria, Africa's oil giant, is the world's eighth-biggest oil exporter and fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.
The latest kidnapping crisis occurred Thursday, when unidentified gunmen in speedboats seized a Briton and an American from an offshore oil-prospecting vessel belonging to Petroleum Geo-Services, an oil field services company based in Oslo, Norway, that was engaged by oil giant Chevron Corp. to survey the seabed for oil deposits.
Government emissaries made contact with the kidnappers Friday and said both hostages were in good health, said Joshua Benamesia, a security aide to Bayelsa State Gov. Goodluck Jonathan.
"We've made contact, and I can confirm the hostages are well," Benamesia said.
Benamesia said the gunmen claim to have acted on behalf of the Ezetu community living near Chevron's Funiwa platform to back demands for jobs and the building of a local hospital. He gave no further details.
The U.S. Consulate said the latest attack "indicates a continuation of the violence seen since earlier this year in the Niger Delta region."
It also advised U.S. citizens "to exercise caution in their daily activities, and to avoid travel to the Niger Delta region. Americans in the area should limit their travel, particularly at night, and should avoid public venues whenever possible."
Source:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...d/4308334.html
This particular hijacking seems somewhat overlooked. Rather sad for the people concerned.