Kidnapping: Government to send delegation to Nigeria

The government will be sending a delegation to Nigeria in a bid to secure the release of George Scerri who was abducted last Friday.

The delegation will be led by the Foreign Ministry's Permanent Secretary Cecilia Attard Pirotta and will be meeting Nigerian authorities, the ministry said yesterday.

Mr Scerri, 62, of Birkirkara and a Pakistani were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Nigeria's main oil producing zone. Mr Scerri is said to have been away from Malta for 22 years and living in Nigeria for the last eight.

The men, who work for Texas-based drilling company Lonestar, were abducted in Omoku, outside the main oil city Port Harcourt, as they were driving to an oil rig.

The delegation, set to leave within the next few days, will also be in contact with the Italian Embassy in Abuja and the British High Commission there as Malta does not have diplomatic representation in Nigeria.

The government is also in contact with the company Lonestar, which employs Mr Scerri. Lonestar Drilling Company Ltd is a major contractor to Shell Petroleum Nigeria, Agip and other oil companies in Nigeria, and it has been handling drilling services in the Niger Delta area since 1993.

Speaking to The Times, Nigerian-born Damian Iwueke confirmed that he had been contacted by the government on the abduction case.

He suggested that the government should include in the Maltese delegation somebody who knows the culture and the area. This, he said, would be the only way the delegation would be able to gather any useful information about Mr Scerri's whereabouts.

Mr Iwueke, who is believed to have already contacted security agencies in Nigeria and the local people in the area where Mr Scerri is being held, called on the government to consider his suggestion.

Last year, over 200 foreign oil workers operating in the oil rich communities were abducted.

In a bid to ensure the security of life and safety of foreign oil workers, the companies operating in the Niger Delta beefed up security and it became increasingly difficult to kidnap foreign oil workers.

In spite of this, kidnappings continue.