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Belgian businessman murdered in Nigeria: police
AFP
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com 01 29 06A Belgian businessman was murdered overnight near Nigeria's oil city of Warri in southern Delta State, a senior police officer and a private security adviser told AFP Sunday.
"It is a fact, it is a murder. The suspect, his Nigerian girlfriend and his (victim's) driver have been arrested," Delta State police boss, Udom Ekpoudom, said by telephone.
Ekpoudom said that the killing was a clear case of murder and not linked to the current situation in the volatile Niger Delta where armed militants have this year alone kidnapped about 40 foreigners, some of them working in the oil industry.
But the Belgian foreign affairs minister's spokesman in Brussels, Rudy Huygelen, said that the killing was caused by "a kidnap attempt".
During this attempt "a gunshot" which was released wounded the businessman.
He died in the hospital, the spokesman added.
A private security adviser in Warri, who declined to be named, also confirmed the killing of the Belgian, whose identity has not been disclosed.
Details about the Belgian and circumstances surrounding his killing are still sketchy.
There are also conflicting reports about whether the Belgian, who was a senior official at a Belgian roofing sheet company, was killed inside his home or elsewhere.
Whether the killing was a case of murder or linked with a hostage-taking attempt, it is believed the action must have sent jitters around the community of foreign oil workers resident in the oil city Warri, following the recent spate of kidnappings in the Niger Delta.
Militants are holding about 40 foreigners hostage in several parts of the Niger Delta, including an American, a Briton, nine Chinese and 24 Filipinos.
Some 37 Nigerian troops and dozens of Nigerian oil workers have been killed by the militants since the start of 2006, while close to 100 foreigners, mostly oil workers, have been kidnapped.
Most of the hostages have been released unharmed after days or weeks in captivity.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from the fossil fuel.
It lost more than half a million barrels a day last year due to disruptions in production caused by unrest in the restive region.
AFP 28 1126 GMT 01 07
Copyright© 1999 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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