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Nigeria makes contact with kidnappers of Filipino oilworkers: official
AFP
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com 06 23 06
Nigerian security services appear to have established contact with the kidnappers of two Filipino oil workers taken hostage earlier this week in the Niger Delta, officials said Friday.
"There seems to be some indication that there has been contact with the kidnappers," said Emmanuel Okah, spokesman of Rivers State where the two Filipinos were abducted. "As far as I know, it is mainly a security matter and details cannot be disclosed."
"No new development beside that, We don't know when they'll be released," he added.
The two Filiponos working for Petroleum Geo-Services near Port Harcourt were abducted on Tuesday at Aker, near a navy base in the city, by six armed men in a speedboat, but no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
A spokesman for the Nigerian marines, Captain Obiora Medani, said simply: "Security has an idea of who may be behind the kidnapping", without giving further comment.
Port Harcourt is at the heart of the Niger Delta region where several oil firms have their operational bases.
Since January, the region has seen a wave of attacks against foreign oil companies and their employees, launched by armed separatists and local communities demanding a larger share in oil revenues and compensation for the destruction of their ecosystem by oil exploration.
Apart from the two Filipinos, 29 expatriates working for oil firms have been kidnapped since the beginning of the year. All have been released unharmed.
AFP 23 0920 GMT 06 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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