Foreign hostages in Nigeria
Encyclopedia
Since 2006, militant groups in Nigeria
's Niger Delta
, especially the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND), have resorted to taking foreign employees of oil companies hostage
as part of the conflict in the Niger Delta
. More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since 2006, though most were released unharmed. The following is a list of known hostages taken.
Both have since been released.
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
's Niger Delta
Niger Delta
The Niger Delta, the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, is a densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil...
, especially the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta is one of the largest militant groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The organization claims to expose exploitation and oppression of the people of the Niger Delta and devastation of the natural environment by public-private partnerships...
(MEND), have resorted to taking foreign employees of oil companies hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
as part of the conflict in the Niger Delta
Conflict in the Niger Delta
The current conflict in the Niger Delta arose in the early 1990s over tensions between the foreign oil corporations and a number of the Niger Delta's minority ethnic groups who felt they were being exploited, particularly the Ogoni and the Ijaw...
. More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since 2006, though most were released unharmed. The following is a list of known hostages taken.
2006
- Jan.10: Militants kidnap 4 foreign workers from an offshore platform, and release them January 30.
- February 18: MEND rebels attack an oil barge and seize 9 hostages: 3 Americans, 2 Egyptians, 2 Thais, a Filipino, and a Britain. All but two Americans and a Britain are released March 1; the three others are released March 27.
- May 11: Vito Macrina, an Italian, and two other employees of SaipemSaipemSaipem S.p.A. is an Italian oil and gas industry contractor. It is a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni, which owns approximately 43% of Saipem's shares. Saipem has contracted for designing and constructing several pipelines, including Blue Stream, Greenstream, Nord Stream and South...
are abducted and freed the next day. - October 3: A militant group abducted four Scots, a Malaysian, an Indonesian and a Romanian from a bar in Akwa Ibom state.
2007
- Jan. 10: Nine South Koreans and one Nigerian working for DaewooDaewooDaewoo or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol . It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999...
Engineering and Construction in YenagoaYenagoaYenagoa is a Local Government Area in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Yenagoa in the south of the area at.The LGA has an area of 706 km² and a population of 353,344 at the 2006 census....
are abducted, but are freed Jan. 12. - May 1: MEND seized six expatriate workers from an offshore oil facility owned by ChevronChevron CorporationChevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
. The group of six consisted of four Italians, an American and a Croat. On the same day, MEND published photos of the captives seated on white plastic chairs in a wooden shelter around the remains of a campfire. - May 3:, MEND seized eight foreign hostages from another offshore vessel. The hostages were released less than 24 hours later, stating they had intended to destroy the vessel and did not want more hostages.
- 9May 25: The pipe lay barge LB300 (owned by Transcostal Off Shore) was attacked a few hundred meter off the Sangana community coastline, near the Aunty Juli Platform. A South African, four Britons and Americans, and one Nigerian were kidnapped. All were employees of Hydrodive. The hostages were held for 19 days in basic conditions and were on occasions subjected to mock executionMock executionA mock execution is a stratagem in which a victim is deliberately but falsely made to feel that his execution or that of another person is imminent or is taking place. It may be staged for an audience or a subject who is made to believe that he is being led to his own execution...
s. MEND claimed responsibility and at one point announced to the national press that all the hostages were to be executed. They were all released unharmed. - July 8: A Bulgarian and a Briton working for Exprogroup were abducted from a barge near CalabarCalabarCalabar is a city in Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. The original name for Calabar was Atakpa, from the Jukun language....
in Cross River stateCross River StateCross River State is a coastal state in southeastern Nigeria, bordering Cameroon to the east. Its capital is at Calabar, and it is named for the Cross River , which passes through the state...
. They were released August 8.
2008
- September 9: British oil workers Robin Barry Hughes and Matthew John Maguire were kidnapped along with 27 other workers when their vessel was hijacked by MEND militants. They were still being held hostage as of February 2009, and one of them was reported to be "very ill."
Both have since been released.
2009
- Jan. 21: Rebels from the Niger Delta attacked the tanker MT Meredith, filled with diesel fuel, and kidnapped a Romanian worker.
- April 16: Julie Ann Mulligan, a Canadian in Nigeria on a Rotary International exchange was taken hostage April 16, and C$$700,00 was demanded before the hostage takers went down to $136,000 before releasing her on Wed. April 29. Mulligan came home Friday May 1.
2010
- Jan 12: Three Britons and a Colombian working for Netco were kidnapped when their convoy was attacked near Port Harcourt.
- April 11: A Nigerian employee of Total was kidnapped by unknown men in southern Nigeria.