Militant group abducts six Filipinos in Niger Delta

Jan 21, 2007, 7:10 GMT

Abuja - An unnamed militant group in the Niger Delta abducted six Filipinos near the Warri export terminal Sunday, security operatives in the area have said.

The victims were employees of an oil company.

No group claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a notorious group of abductors of expatriate oil workers, said last Wednesday that it was halting such activities. The group said it would focus its efforts on bombing and destruction of oil installations to frustrate Nigeria's oil exports.

The group made the declaration when it was releasing an ailing Italian, one of tree Italians and a Lebanese abducted December 7.

Several other groups apparently target foreign workers.

The latest abduction of the Filipinos brought to 20 the number of expatriate oil workers abducted in the Niger Delta since the beginning of the year.

On January January 5, Five Chinese nationals, employees of a telecommunications firm, were abducted in Port Harcourt. They were released last Wednesday.

Five days after they were kidnapped, nine Koreans and a Nigerian, workers of Daewoo, an oil service company were abducted in Bayelsa State. They were released penultimate Friday.

Restiveness in the Niger Delta caused Nigeria a loss of 4.4 billion dollars in oil exports in 2006.