Several kidnapped in Nigeria oil rig attack: sources

Source: Reuters

LAGOS (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked an oil rig off the coast of Nigeria's southeastern state of Akwa Ibom late on Sunday and kidnapped several people including two foreigners, security sources said on Monday.

The sources said the attack took place in the shallow-water Okoro oilfield off the Obolo local government area of Akwa Ibom. There was no immediate confirmation from the security services.

Akwa Ibom lies on the edge of the Niger Delta, a vast wetlands region home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, whose infrastructure had been repeatedly attacked for years until an amnesty was agreed last year.

Thousands of gunmen laid down their weapons under the deal, brokered by President Goodluck Jonathan, but the militants were always highly factionalised and some gangs with local grievances against foreign oil firms remain active, security sources say.

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Source: AFP

Lagos, Nigeria. Gunmen in Nigeria on Monday kidnapped two Indonesians and also shot and injured two other people in a village in southern Akwa Ibom State, police said.

“The hoodlums shot and injured two people and made away with two Indonesians,” police spokesman Kingsley Woke said. “The incident happened in Efiak village in Eastern Obolo local government council at about 1:30 a.m.,” he said. He could not give details on the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping or about the abducted foreigners, including why they were in Nigeria.

“Investigations are under way and we are making efforts to free the kidnapped people and arrest their abductors,” Woke said. Contacts have not been established with the kidnappers and details were still sketchy, he said.

Gunmen separately kidnapped five crew members Monday in an attack on an oil rig off the same state, Akwa Ibom. They were two French, two Americans and one Canadian, a company source said.


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