Gunmen have attacked a ship operated by a French oil and gas services company in Bayelsa State. They kidnapped six Russian sailors and an Estonian in the assault, the firm said.
Paris-based Bourbon SA offered only a tersely worded statement on its website about the attack.
The incident which occurred at the Pennington oil platform belonging to Chevron multinational oil Company in the Southern Ijaw LGA area off shore Bayelsa state.
Information on the abduction was hazy last night, but Lt. Col Onyema Nwachukwu, the Joint Military Task Force Media Coordinator who confirmed it, said the Military High Command has directed the Forward Operating Base (FOB) to comb the waterways in search of the expatriates.
Another nine sailors onboard the vessel sailed safely away to the company’s port in Onne in Nigeria’s Rivers state, the company said.
“The emergency unit set up immediately by Bourbon has been set up to aim at their rapid liberation under the safest security conditions,” the company said in its statement.
A company spokesman reached in Paris declined to elaborate on the company’s statement and did not say where the kidnapping actually took place.
Foreign oil companies have pumped oil out of the Niger Delta, a region of mangroves and swamps the size of Portugal, for more than 50 years. Despite the billions of dollars flowing into Nigeria’s government, many in the delta remain desperately poor, living in polluted waters without access to proper medical care, education or work. The poor conditions sparked an uprising in 2006 by militants and opportunistic criminals who blew up oil pipelines and kidnapped foreign workers.
That violence ebbed in 2009 with a government-sponsored amnesty programme promising ex-fighters monthly payments and job training. However, few in the delta have seen the promised benefits and sporadic kidnappings and attacks continue. The last major kidnapping happened in August, when gunmen attacked a vessel operated by Sea Trucks Group, another oil and gas contractor, and kidnapped four workers. The workers were later released unharmed.
While kidnappings in the delta routinely involve violence, most hostages are released a few weeks later unharmed after their employers pay a ransom.
Paris-based Bourbon SA offered only a tersely worded statement on its website about the attack.
The incident which occurred at the Pennington oil platform belonging to Chevron multinational oil Company in the Southern Ijaw LGA area off shore Bayelsa state.
Information on the abduction was hazy last night, but Lt. Col Onyema Nwachukwu, the Joint Military Task Force Media Coordinator who confirmed it, said the Military High Command has directed the Forward Operating Base (FOB) to comb the waterways in search of the expatriates.
Another nine sailors onboard the vessel sailed safely away to the company’s port in Onne in Nigeria’s Rivers state, the company said.
“The emergency unit set up immediately by Bourbon has been set up to aim at their rapid liberation under the safest security conditions,” the company said in its statement.
A company spokesman reached in Paris declined to elaborate on the company’s statement and did not say where the kidnapping actually took place.
Foreign oil companies have pumped oil out of the Niger Delta, a region of mangroves and swamps the size of Portugal, for more than 50 years. Despite the billions of dollars flowing into Nigeria’s government, many in the delta remain desperately poor, living in polluted waters without access to proper medical care, education or work. The poor conditions sparked an uprising in 2006 by militants and opportunistic criminals who blew up oil pipelines and kidnapped foreign workers.
That violence ebbed in 2009 with a government-sponsored amnesty programme promising ex-fighters monthly payments and job training. However, few in the delta have seen the promised benefits and sporadic kidnappings and attacks continue. The last major kidnapping happened in August, when gunmen attacked a vessel operated by Sea Trucks Group, another oil and gas contractor, and kidnapped four workers. The workers were later released unharmed.
While kidnappings in the delta routinely involve violence, most hostages are released a few weeks later unharmed after their employers pay a ransom.
Culled from the (nation newspaper )
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