1ST LEAD: Sixty Shell workers taken hostage in oil- rich Nigeria

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday October 10, 2006

Nairobi/Lagos- Sixty Nigerian oil workers were taken hostage by armed militants in the country's oil-rich Niger Delta on Tuesday, a spokesman for Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "Armed units attacked the facility where these people were working. They have been taken hostage," the spokesman said.

He said the hostages, who work for a Shell subsidiary in the region, were being held at the oil station at Nun River in Bayelsa state, and that no-one has been injured.

The past year has seen growing unrest in the Niger Delta, where militants calling for a greater say over the use of natural resources and protesting environmental destruction by oil companies have kidnapped dozens of expatriate workers, usually releasing them unharmed after a short period.

After a month of relative calm, Nigeria saw a sharp increase in kidnappings and attacks last week in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Nigerian police said authorities were negotiating with the militants.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency