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| Africa Subsaharan |
| 23 oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria over past two days |
| 2008-07-27 |
| (Xinhua) -- Four kidnappings have been taken place in Nigerian oil-rich Niger Delta region since late Thursday, with 23 oil workers abducted, local media reported. So far, eight of them were still being held and no ransom has been asked for, local media said. Eight oil workers from Russia, Latvia and Lithuania were released Saturday hours after they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from an oil vessel off the coast of the Niger Delta region. Military spokesman Sagir Musa said the eight oil workers of a U.S. oil and gas company were seized by gunmen in the small hours of Saturday after a brief shootout. The workers were released later without asking for a ransom, which used to be the purpose of an abduction in the region. This was the fourth abduction in the region over the past 48 hours. On late Thursday, 11 Russians and a Ukrainian were seized on a vessel off Bonny Island. On Friday alone, two kidnapping occurred in Port Harcourtin, in which two Filipinos and a Nigerian were seized. It was not clear whether the same group was behind all the incidents. Meanwhile, Nigerian troops have enhanced their presence in the Niger Delta Region. Nigerian military attached to Nigeria's unrest Niger Delta region launched separate morning raids on Thursday, killing 12 suspected militants and arrested 48 others in Bayelsa and Rivers states, according to the Punch, a Lagos-based newspaper. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 There's no way I'd let myself be the only a-hole in the Niger delta without a gun. They either need to kill these guys or make a deal with them and use them to keep down the oil smuggling. |
| Posted by: bigjm-ky 2008-07-27 12:03 |
| #1 "23 oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria" Don't any of these people have guns? It's not like they can't get them over there..... Shoot the kidnappers and then go looking for their relatives. >:-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-07-27 00:35 |