Nigeria vows to find, free kidnapped OFWs

LAGOS (AFP) – Nigerian authorities vowed yesterday to find and free two Filipino oil workers who were kidnapped a day earlier by unknown militants in the country’s oil-producing heartland.

The abduction of the two men, who are employed by Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) in Port Harcourt, was just the latest hostage-taking in the Niger Delta, home to Nigeria’s multi-billion-dollar oil wealth.

"All the security agencies have been mobilized to work towards freedom for the oilmen," navy spokesman Obiora Medani said.

"For their safety we don’t want to disclose the details of our operation," he added.

"I can assure you that we are already closing in on the kidnappers."

In Manila, reports from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said representatives of PGS are now in Nigeria to secure the workers’ release.

The Philippine Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria reported yesterday to the DFA that a consular team composed of Vice Consul Randy Arquiza and assistant to national officer Camalodin Manggis was sent to Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria to monitor on the ground efforts of Nigerian authorities and the employer-company to seek the two overseas Filipino workers’ release from their abductors.

In his report to the DFA, Philippine Ambassador to Abuja, Nigeria Masaranga Umpa said that the two Filipino oil workers were being held by gunmen who stormed a jetty at Aker Base, Rumuolumeni, in the Inkwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State in the Niger Delta.

Umpa said the motive for the abduction is still unknown but information gathered state that the Filipinos were carrying out a routine check on one of their vessels when they were attacked.

The DFA withheld the names of the workers as requested by the PGS as they work for their release and to respect the privacy of their next of kin during this difficult time.

Rivers state police spokeswoman Ireju Barasua remained cautious. "We are making frantic efforts to effect their release," she said. "The truth is that we have yet to identify where they are kept or the group responsible for the abduction."

State government spokesman Emmanuel Okah said security agencies had been charged with freeing the Filipinos, adding. "We are in touch with the military personnel whose job is to protect the oil firms and staff.

"The government will not relent until the men have been freed."

The pair were abducted by six armed men who came in a boat near the city, according to local authorities, but no group has claimed responsibility.

The armed, separatist Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), which has claimed previous kidnappings since the start of the year, told AFP that it had played no role in the capture of the men.

"We have nothing to do with that," the group said in a short e-mail message Wednesday.

The Nigerian navy said the kidnapping took place in Aker district, about 10 kilometers southwest of Port Harcourt.

Foreign oil workers have frequently been targeted in the Niger Delta, a hotbed of unrest by armed separatists demanding a larger share in oil revenues and compensation for environmental destruction due to oil exploration.

Since January, 31 foreign oil workers – now including the two Filipinos – have been kidnapped in the region, but all previous hostages have been freed unharmed after detention periods ranging from several days to several weeks.

OFW Anthony Santos was also abducted in Nigeria last February and was released on March 2 after 18 days of captivity in the Niger Delta.

The Nigerian navy, which has lost several men in separatist attacks on oil workers and oil installations, has tried to reinforce security in the region, but they have continued unabated.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest producer with 2.6 million barrels of oil per day, is the world’s sixth biggest exporter. — With Pia Lee-Brago