Nine Chinese oil workers are missing after being attacked by an
armed group in Nigeria on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Jiang Yu confirmed in Beijing Friday.
A Chinese oil company compound was attacked by an unidentified
group in southern Nigeria. Nine workers were missing and the others
had been removed to a safe place, according to a statement from
China's Foreign Ministry.
Officials were still verifying the identities of the missing
workers, it said.
China was working closely with other parties to ensure their
safe return, according to the statement.
A spate of attacks and kidnappings on foreign companies and
workers have occurred in Nigeria, the largest oil producer in
Africa and the sixth largest oil exporter in the world with a daily
output of 2.5 million barrels.
The attack came four days after five Chinese telecom workers
returned home after being held hostage in Nigeria. They were
captured by unidentified armed men on Jan. 5 in the southern
Nigerian state of Rivers and released 13 days later on Jan. 17.
China's Foreign Ministry warned on Wednesday of the serious
security situation in Nigeria.
In a travel advisory on its website, the Foreign Ministry said
attacks and kidnappings on foreigners were frequent in southern
Nigeria, and warned Chinese companies and workers there to enhance
awareness of security, and stay out of dangerous regions.
Nigerian group of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta has kidnapped 24 Filipino seamen from a cargo ship in
Nigeria's southern state of Delta, local newspaper reported last
Sunday.
The Philippine government said Friday that there had been no
breakthrough in talks with the kidnappers so far.
On Tuesday, Nigerian police confirmed that two Americans were
kidnapped on Tuesday in Nigeria's southern state of Rivers.
(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2007)