2007年VOA标准英语-Foreign Workers Snatched in Nigeria's Oil-Rich

Military officials say gunmen have abducted¹ more foreign nationals working in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta². News of the hostage-takings come a day after the release from prison of a prominent militant³ leader, hailed as a breakthrough in bringing about a solution to lawlessness in the troubled region. Sarah Simpson reports for VOA from Lagos.

In the latest in a long-running spate⁴ of gun-point abductions, military spokesmen said Friday at least five foreign nationals were seized in at least two separate incidents.

Details remain sketchy⁵, with officials giving conflicting information on the nationalities and even the number of people seized.

Moujahid Dokubo-Asari (file photo)

The Niger Delta abductions come hours after a prominent militia⁶ leader from the region, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, was released for health reasons late Thursday after a year and a half in detention⁷.

Dokubo-Asari, a diabetic, has appealed for bail⁸ before without success.

The timing⁹ of his release is widely seen as a key concession¹⁰ by the newly inaugurated President Umar Yar'Adua to militia groups whose attacks have cut oil company production and driven away most foreign staff.

Umaru Yar'Adua, 56, waves to supporters after he is sworn in in Abuja, 29 May 2007

One of the largest militant groups, the Movement for the Emancipation¹¹ of the Niger Delta, has announced it is suspending attacks to see what President Yar'Adua has to offer.

Charles Dokubo, an analyst¹² at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, says the militant leader's release is not enough and the new president needs to address underdevelopment and the distribution of oil wealth if he is to calm the restive¹³ Delta.

"To release Asari without negotiating these bigger issues will not resolve anything," he said.

Oil industry analysts¹⁴ and oil workers say the latest abductions illustrate¹⁵ how taking foreign hostages has become a money making enterprise for criminal gangs operating outside the militants¹⁶' control.

Earlier this month, the British Government said the Niger Delta was "unsafe" and urged all nationals to leave.

The Niger Delta, the source of all of Nigeria's vast oil reserves, is massively underdeveloped with few roads, schools or clinics. Since the end of military rule in 1999, frustrations¹⁷ in the region have been voiced through increasingly violent action.