Nigeria,not a safe place?

[scotsfiancee]

3 Pinoy oil, gas workers kidnapped in southern Nigeria
08/04 9:41:18 PM

LAGOS (AFP) - Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, was hit by the latest in a series of kidnappings Friday as three Filipino oil and gas workers were taken hostage in the Niger Delta region, industry sources and police said.

A German was abducted on Thursday.

"The [three] men were abducted at Bonny Island in Rivers State, near the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas plant. They are our contractors and employees of Baker Overseas Technology Services," NLNG spokesman Igwebuike Mbanefo told AFP.

He said the whereabouts of the hostages were unknown, but that the firm was making the necessary contacts to secure their release.

He said the identities of the captors were also unknown as no group had claimed responsibility for the abduction, the latest to hit Africa's biggest producer in recent months.


So Where are they?:Help1: :Help1:

[scotsfiancee]

Ok just an update:

Philippines to coordinate with Nigeria on release of abducted workers
08/05 4:18:38 PM

Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria Masaranga R. Umpa reported Saturday that a consular team will proceed to Port Harcourt, in southern Nigeria, to coordinate with police authorities and the employer of three Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were abducted by an unnamed group last August 4.

Ambassador Umpa said the General Manager of the Overseas Technical Services (OTS) confirmed the incident by a Filipina residing in Port Harcourt.

The three OFWs are working for the OTS, a UK subsidiary of US-based Michael Baker Corporation, at the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant.

They were kidnapped around on the evening of August 4, at Bonny Island, Rivers State along “Monkey Village” or near the NLNG company vicinity, Ambassador Umpa said, adding that no group has yet to claim responsibility for this incident.

In the meantime, the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs and Department of Foreign Affairs is coordinating with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in informing the families of the three OFWs on the incident and in providing the necessary support services as efforts are being exerted to free the hostages.

For this reason, the DFA would not disclose of the names of the abducted OFWs until the families have been fully informed of the incident and assistance are provided by OWWA.

Ambassador Umpa said the consular team, composed of Vice Consul Randy B. Arquiza and Consular Assistant Efren Pasculado, will coordinate with the police and OTS in Port Harcourt on measures to ensure the safety and release of the OFWs.

The Ambassador added that the General Manager of OTS assured him that mechanisms are now in place to secure the release of the three OFWs and German worker who was also abducted a day earlier by the unnamed group.

The OTS is waiting to hear from the abductors on the conditions of the workers, the General Manager added.

According to Ambassador Umpa, the NLNG complex in Bonny Island is one of the world’s largest plants, exporting eighteen million tons of frozen pressurized gas in tankers to power stations in Europe and the United States.

The major shareowner of NLNG is the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The gross revenue earnings of Nigeria in the oil and gas sectors have caused a rift between the government and multinational companies, on the one hand, and local tribal communities, on the other.

The Ambassador noted that this is the third time OFWs have been abducted in Nigeria. The first case involved Anthony Santos of the American firm Wilbros who was abducted together with eight other foreign oil workers last February 18 and released last March 2.

The second case involved Pacifico Gajo and Joseph Doctolero, both of Petroleum Geo Services, who were abducted on June 20 near Port Harcourt and release last June 25.

[scotsfiancee]

No news of kidnapped oil workers in Nigeria
08/07 11:25:03 AM

LAGOS (AFP) - No news was forthcoming Sunday on the whereabouts of four oil workers -- a German and three Filipinos -- several days after unidentified armed men kidnapped them in Nigeria's oil-rich southern Rivers State.

A German oil worker was kidnapped last Thursday along with his driver in Port Harcourt city, capital of Rivers State, while three Filipinos working on a multi-billion-dollar liquefied gas project were abducted the following day at nearby Bonny Island in the same state.

A source at Anglo-Dutch Shell in Nigeria told AFP that he had no news.

On Saturday Rivers State police spokeswoman Ireju Barasua Barau said Nigerian security agents have stepped up efforts to secure the release of the four men.

She said security forces were hopeful they would be released soon, declining to give details of the operation.

No one so far claimed responsibility and a leading separatist group involved in previous kidnappings, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has denied involvement in both hostage-taking.

Unknown gunmen struck near the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant in Bonny on Friday and kidnapped three Filipino men employed by Baker Overseas Technology Services, a contractor of the Nigerian firm.

NLNG said the abduction took place early in the morning when five gunmen flagged down the truck in which the three were travelling then fled with them by boat.

In Manila the foreign ministry said its embassy in Nigeria "has dispatched a consular team ... to coordinate with the management of Baker Overseas Technology Services and also the Nigerian authorities."

The contractor had "put in place a mechanism to contact the group that took the three ... and other arrangements to ensure that they are released safely," government spokesman Gilbert Asuque said on television.

The kidnapping was the third of Filipinos this year. All previous cases in February and June ended well with the negotiated release of unharmed abducted workers.

Thursday, five Nigerian oil workers were killed by unidentified gunmen in the Egbema area of Rivers State, police and industry sources said.

Where are you guys:Brick: :Brick: :Brick:

[scotsfiancee]

4 foreign oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria--Norwegian gov’t

Agence France-Presse
Last updated 07:29pm (Mla time) 08/09/2006


OSLO -- Two Norwegians and two Ukrainians working on an oil supply vessel in Nigeria have been kidnapped, the Norwegian government and the ship operators said on Wednesday.

This follows the abductions of four other foreign workers, including three Filipinos, late last week.

"Two Norwegians and two Ukrainians were kidnapped late Tuesday while they were on a Norwegian offshore supply vessel," operated by Tryco Supply, foreign ministry spokesman Frode Andersen told Agence France-Presse.

Tryco Supply confirmed the abductions, the latest in a series in Nigeria, and said no ransom demand had been made.

On Thursday, a German employee of oil service firm Bilfinger and Berger was kidnapped along with his driver in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt, while three Filipinos working on a multi-billion-dollar liquefied gas project were abducted the following day at nearby Bonny Island, near Port Harcourt.
A previously unknown Movement for the Niger Delta People (MONDP) claimed responsibility for kidnapping the German, identified as Didone Shephard.

[scotsfiancee]

Gunmen abduct two foreign oil workers in southern Nigeria

Agence France-Presse
Last updated 06:47pm (Mla time) 08/10/2006


LAGOS -- Gunmen abducted two expatriate oil workers after an ambush in the Nigerian southern oil city of Port Harcourt on Thursday, an industry source told Agence France-Presse.

"We gathered that the two men were waylaid on a road in the city, forced out of their car and taken away. We don't know their identities," a spokesman for a major oil firm said.

The incident was the latest kidnappings to rock Africa's biggest producer in recent months.

[Win2Win]

Nigeria has never been safe since those whites moved in :NoNo:

[A_flyer]

3 Pinoys freed in Nigeria

The Philippine Star - August 15, 2006

The three Filipino gas company workers abducted in Nigeria 10 days ago have been released, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced yesterday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. would not say whether ransom was paid for the freedom of Cornelio Fallaria, 51; Daniel Monteagudo, 49; and Alberto Torres, 50. "We have no information," he said.

Conejos said Nigerian authorities just informed Philippine officials that the three Filipinos had been freed Sunday after their employer "negotiated for their release." The three are now in the custody of Ambassador to Nigeria Masaranga Umpa.

Diplomats in the Philippine embassy in the Nigerian capital Abuja were in Port Harcourt yesterday to receive the freed hostages, an embassy official said.

"They’re okay, they’re safe, they were not harmed," Conejos told reporters.

There is no schedule of their arrival yet, as the three must first undergo debriefing and ask their employers to allow them to go home.

The national police spokesman in Nigeria, Haz Iwendi, confirmed to Agence France Presse the release of the three Filipinos.

"Yes, I know that they have been released. They were unhurt. But I still do not have all the details surrounding the release," he said.
— Aurea Calica, AFP