Police: Gunmen in Nigeria kidnap workers |
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Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:07
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PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (AP) - Gunmen seized three eastern European workers in the latest kidnapping to hit Nigeria's southern oil region, police said Monday. The men were abducted late Sunday in the region's main city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State police spokeswoman Irejua Barasua said.The Croatian Foreign Ministry said the men seized -- two Croatians and a Montenegrin -- work on oil platforms through a Croatian maritime company.'The kidnappers have not issued any demands for their release yet,' said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Vinko Ljubicic, adding that they were in contact with the hostages' employers.Scores of foreign workers have been kidnapped in the Niger Delta region since January in a dramatic spike of violence across the swampy southern area where Nigeria's crude oil is pumped.Over a year of attacks on a vast maze of oil infrastructure and on the workers who service it have cut nearly a quarter of Nigeria's daily output, helping to send international crude prices near historical highs.Despite the vast energy stores lying beneath their lands, most of the region's people are poor, and abductions for ransom have become common.Hostages are generally released unharmed, although casualties sometimes occur during gun battles between the hostage-takers and patrolling military forces.With the latest seizure, at least eight foreigners are known to be in captivity, including two Italians, a Lebanese, a French man and a Filipino woman.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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3 foreign workers kidnapped in Nigeria 