Security forces sought Tuesday to free seven foreign hostages after an attack on an oil rig and support vessel off Nigeria, as the incident raised new concerns over one of the world’s largest oil industries.
The hostages taken in the pre-dawn attack on Monday included two Americans, two French, two Indonesians and one Canadian, according to a source with the company that oversees the rig, Afren. Two people were also wounded.
It was unclear whether a ransom had been demanded, as is usually the case with kidnappings in the turbulent Niger Delta region, the heart of Nigeria’s lucrative oil industry.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Afren had said there were five hostages. The company source said on Tuesday that seven had now been confirmed in the two incidents, including the assault on the support vessel and rig.
“We can confirm this morning that there are seven hostages,” the source said. “The nationality of the additional two are Indonesian.”
He added that “as far as the information I have, seven is the total.”
The two people wounded in the attack were in stable condition and receiving medical treatment, he said. A security source said one person was shot in the leg after resisting the attackers.
Afren provided few details on the attack itself, though gunmen often use speedboats to carry out such kidnappings.
It occurred at the Okoro field, some 12 kilometres (eight miles) off the coast of Akwa Ibom state. Afren is headquartered in Britain and works with a local partner, AMNI International, while the rig is owned by Transocean.
A statement purporting to be from Nigeria’s most prominent militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, claimed responsibility for the attack and said the foreign workers were in its custody.
Another statement warned of a series of attacks on oil installations across the Niger Delta in the coming days, as well as indicated that MEND was holding three French hostages and one Thai national abducted in September.
However, the statements came from a different email address than the militant group has used previously to warn of and claim attacks. There were also other variations in the statements themselves that raised questions over their legitimacy.
A spokesman for a Nigerian joint military and police force working in the Niger Delta said authorities had seen the statements, but were working to determine whether they were authentic.
The United States called for the prompt release of all the hostages.
“We’re, of course, concerned about their safety and hope for their immediate release,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
Criminal gangs seeking ransom payments as well as militants claiming to be fighting for a fairer distribution of oil revenue have in recent years abducted scores of foreigners and family members of wealthy Nigerians.
An amnesty deal offered to militants last year greatly reduced unrest in the Niger Delta but several incidents have occurred in recent months ahead of elections set to take place early next year.
Twin car bombings in the capital Abuja near independence day celebrations on October 1 killed at least 12 people and were claimed by MEND.
An alleged ex-MEND leader, Henry Okah, was arrested in South Africa the day after the car bombings and authorities accuse him of being behind the attack, which he denies.
On Tuesday, a South African court delayed its bail ruling for Okah, pushing back the decision to Friday.
MEND claims to be fighting on behalf of local people in the deeply impoverished Niger Delta, but has also been seen as an umbrella organisation for criminal gangs. Authorities call it an “amorphous” group with shifting alliances.
©2010 AFP