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Nigerian militant group kidnaps six oil workers
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-16 08:56

A militant group in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region kidnapped two German and four Nigerian workers of a contractor firm providing service for Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, a Shell official said.

"Six workers of German company B and B (Bilfinger Berger Gas and Oil Services Ltd) were kidnapped around Warri early this Wednesday morning by a group calling itself 'Iju-Warri'", said the official who requested anonymity.

"The hostage takers were asking for a series of demands, especially provision of social services such as water, good roads, schools, among others," he said without giving details.

A spokesman for German construction giant Julius Berger, which is a technical partner of B and B, confirmed the kidnapping.

"Indeed the six oil workers of B and B were kidnapped by a group and we are making efforts to secure their release. But the Delta State government has taken over the matter and we are hoping for the best," spokesman Clement Iloba told AFP by telephone from Abuja.

He said that he was unaware of the kidnappers' demands.

Militant groups and angry youths in Nigeria's restive oil-rich Niger Delta region often kidnap oil workers, attack or invade oil installations to back up their demands for provision of social facilities and better job opportunities.

Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange from oil.



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