Filipino Workers Held Hostage in Nigeria

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Kidnappers grabbed six Filipino workers off a merchant ship Saturday in the latest hostage-taking in Nigeria’s restive southern oil-producing region, officials said.

The vessel was heading to the oil port of Warri with a crew of 14 when unidentified gunmen boarded and took away the six non-Nigerians, Delta state spokesman Ozoene Sheddy said. Initial reports said seven foreigners were taken, but that proved incorrect, Sheddy said.

Militants seeking to pressure the national government into giving more local control over the area’s oil resources have stepped up kidnappings since launching a wave of attacks on oil facilities in early 2006 that have cut oil exports by Africa’s biggest oil producer 25 percent.

Militant groups behind dozens of kidnappings in recent months couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the latest incident.

AP