Nigerian militants kidnap oil workers, hit exports

Nigerian militants launched a string of attacks in the world's eighth largest oil exporter yesterday, abducting nine foreign workers, bombing a major oil export platform and sabotaging two pipelines.

Royal Dutch Shell suspended exports from the 380,000 barrel-a-day Forcados tanker terminal, a senior industry source said, cutting at least 16 per cent of Nigeria's 2.4 million barrels of daily supply to world markets.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said the attacks were a response to military air raids on villages in Delta state earlier this week and would be followed by another wave of violence "on a grander scale".

"These hostages are human shields. Subsequent attacks on other installations will be drastic as we have no intentions of taking hostages," the militants said, calling on all oil workers to leave the delta.

The militants said they wanted more local control over the Niger Delta's vast oil wealth and the release of two ethnic Ijaw leaders, including a militia leader who is on trial for treason.

"Expatriates must realise that they have been caught up in a war and the Nigerian government can do nothing to guarantee the security of anyone," they added.

In military-style pre-dawn attacks, militants in six speed boats stormed an offshore barge operated by US oil services company Willbros and abducted nine workers - three Americans, one Briton, two Thais, two Egyptians and a Filipino.

They caused an explosion and fire on the Forcados loading platform, which delivers crude oil through pipes to large buoys where tankers load, but it was later extinguished.

They blew up a major Shell crude oil pipeline nearby, and another pipeline taking natural gas to a refinery in northern Nigeria operated by state-run Nigeria National Petroleum Corp, militant and oil industry sources said.

Shell began to close oilfields feeding the Forcados terminal but the full impact of the attacks was not immediately clear.