Two Norwegian oil workers were kidnapped from a supply ship off the Nigerian coast, Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday.
Norwegian media reported a Briton and a Ukrainian were also taken from the ship, owned by Norwegian shipping company Trico Supply, and were being held for ransom. Trico officials were not immediately available for comment.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Frode Overland Andersen said he could not confirm the ransom demand, but said the Norwegian Embassy in Abuja was working with local authorities to get more details on the kidnapping.
Last week, militants wearing camouflage uniforms took hostage a German oil industry worker, spiriting him away on a boat into Nigeria’s troubled oil-rich delta region. A group calling itself the Movement for the Niger Delta People has claimed responsibility for that kidnapping, but police said the group was unknown.
Militants have kidnapped oil workers to bargain for a greater share of the wealth from Africa’s largest crude producer. More than 30 have been taken this year, three from the oil-producing hub of Port Harcourt.
The militants argue residents remain deeply impoverished, benefiting little from oil wealth while government officials and oil companies grow rich.