SIX days after five of its expatriate workers were abducted by unknown gunmen in Rivers State, an oil firm, Lonestar Drilling Company, has evacuated 120 of its employees from the Nembe area of Bayelsa State.
The oil firm’s move followed fresh threats of attack from militants.
A source disclosed to The Guardian that the oil company received a fresh threat by militants demanding an unspecified amount of money from it.
The militants were reported to have threatened to attack the oil firm if it failed to provide the demanded sum of money.
Meanwhile, the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has condemned the abduction of workers of Lonestar Drilling Company and reiterated that hostage-taking was not only sending negative signals to the outside world, but also having adverse effects on businesses in the Niger Delta.
With the whereabouts of the five expatiates who were abducted from Soku in Akuku-Toru Local Council Area of Rivers State still unknown, the management of the oil services company which drills for Shell Petroleum Development Company decided at the weekend to evacuate all its workers from Nembe.
The kidnapped Lonestar expatiates are messes Kiwis Brent Goddard and Bruce Klenner both from New Zealand; Jason Lane, Australia; George Saliba of Lebanon and Andreas Gambra from Venezuela.
Piqued by the persistent attacks on oil workers, the spokesperson of PETAN, Mr. Bank-Anthony Okorafor, warned that hostage-taking and kidnapping was having adverse effect on the oil service industry in the Niger Delta, particularly in Rivers State.
He said: “We believe the world has heard our message. We advise the hostage-takers to desist from this act which is turning our vibrant Rivers State into a ghost town with the consequence of companies relocating out of the state and the resultant loss of jobs, loss of revenue as well as inability to develop and sustain capacity and loss of entrepreneurial development.”
Okorafor implored the militants to encourage the development of local entrepreneurs and send positive signals to the outside world that Rivers State is a good place to invest in and do business.
“The time is now for us to all come to the table for a more constructive dialogue that will see the transformation of our Niger Delta. Nigeria belongs to us all, enough is enough, let hostage-taking not be a brand name for us in the Niger Delta so that we don’t have to live with it for the rest of our lives. We are a smart group of people. So, let us work toward that goal,” he added.