We have received a report that in the early hours of today Thursday 25/01/07, there was an armed attack on the base camp of a seismic crew working for SPDC at Sagbama Bayelsa State. The attack was repelled and there are no reports of any injuries to company or contract staff. We believe that a number of contractors of Chinese Nationality have been abducted by the attackers. Operations at the site have been stood down and the site has been secured. Efforts are underway to locate the missing contractor staff.
In a similar vein, there was a report of the abduction of two expatriate staff of PIVOT GIS, an Engineering and construction company working in Rivers State. The two were reportedly abducted on their way to work in Port Harcourt.
We appreciate that these incidents and reports of other attacks (although some are unconnected with Shell operations) are likely to cause apprehension amongst staff especially in the field locations. We enjoin all of you to remain calm and ever vigilant and to make available any information you consider useful in managing the security situation in all areas of our operations.
The Crisis Team continues to evaluate the situation in all areas of our operations. I repeat my earlier message to all staff to go about their normal business, minimizing exposure wherever possible and always subject to the heightened restrictions on movement already in place.