- Kidnapers in Nigeria’s oil rich region, Niger Delta have killed a guard and abducted four people working for Shell in the region. Reports have said three British and a Colombian were kidnapped near the city of Port Harcourt.
This is the first violent attack on foreigners in the region for many months. Gunmen snatched the four on Tuesday morning as they made their way to work at a power plant, police officials said.
Reports said the security guard was shot dead and the driver is also believed to have been shot, although it remains unclear on the injuries the driver sustained from the attack.
A Shell spokesman in Nigeria confirmed the attack, expressing concern over the safety of the contractor staff.
The oil-producing region is notorious for kidnappings by militants on foreign staff, who demand a greater share of the region’s wealth.
But the Niger Delta has been relatively calm since most major militant groups agreed to lay down their arms last year after the government offered an unconditional amnesty.
The British Foreign Office has said it was looking into the report as a matter of great urgency.
However, no group has claimed to have kidnapped the Shell worker.
Militancy in the Niger Delta has cost Nigeria's oil industry millions of dollars over the years. A variety of groups claimed to be fighting for the rights of local people to gain a greater share of the region's wealth.
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