Nigeria militants seize more oil workers

LAGOS, Nigeria – Gunmen stormed the local offices of a major Chinese oil company in southern Nigeria on Thursday, abducting seven Chinese employees and stealing a large amount of cash, police said.

One of the assailants died in the raid on the finance offices of the government-owned Chinese National Petroleum Co. in the Nigerian state of Bayelsa, state police Commissioner Hafiz Ringim said. Two Chinese employees escaped the attack, Ringim said.

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it is looking into the attack. Company officials could not be reached for comment.

Some 100 hostages have been seized in a year of increased violence in Nigeria, the largest producer of oil in Africa and a major exporter to the U.S. Hostages are generally released unharmed after a ransom is paid, although casualties have occurred during gunbattles between the attackers and security forces.

AP