Since 2006, militant groups in
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
's
Niger Delta
The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical ...
, especially the
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is a decentralised militant group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. MEND's actionsincluding sabotage, theft, property destruction, guerrilla warfare, and kidnappingare part of the br ...
(MEND), have resorted to taking foreign employees of
oil companies
The following is a list of notable companies in the petroleum industry that are engaged in petroleum exploration and production. The list is in alphabetical order by continent and then by country. This list does not include companies only involved ...
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...
as part of the
conflict in the Niger Delta. More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since 2006, though most were released unharmed.
Since the start of the
Islamist insurgency in the north of the country, Western hostages have also been taken (mostly by
Ansaru), in addition to the
kidnappings perpetrated by Boko Haram.
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
Saipem
Saipem S.p.A. (Società Anonima Italiana Perforazioni E Montaggi lit. ''Drilling and Assembly Italian Public Limited Company'') is an Italian multinational oilfield services company and one of the largest in the world. Until 2016 it was a subsid ...
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
Daewoo
Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomera ...
Engineering and Construction in
Yenagoa
Yenagoa is a Local Government Area and capital city of Bayelsa State, southern Nigeria. It is located at the southern part of the country at coordinates .
The LGA has an area of 706 km² and a population of 352,285 at the 2006 census.
T ...
are abducted, but are freed Jan. 12.
*May 1: MEND seized six expatriate workers from an offshore oil facility owned by
Chevron. 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.
*May 25: The pipe lay barge LB300 (owned by
Transcostal Off Shore) was attacked a few hundred meters 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 execution
A mock execution is a stratagem in which a victim is deliberately but falsely made to feel that their execution or that of another person is imminent or is taking place. The subject is made to believe that they are being led to their own executio ...
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
Calabar in
Cross River state
)
, image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria
, coordinates =
, coor_pinpoint ...
. 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.
*December 19: 2 Russians, MD RUSAL Nigeria
Sergey Zamotaylov and accountant
Konstantin Aksenov were kidnapped out of Guarded Camp in Ikot Abasi. Hostages were taken by boats and kept at the area of Port Harcourt, at one of the hundreds islands of Niger Delta. $7 000 000 were demanded. "
They managed to escape on February 15, 2009 and after 5 days of trip through mangroves were found by Nigerian Military boats in the vicinity of Port Harcourt.
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$700,000 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.
2011
* May: Two Europeans captured by
Ansaru.
*Nov 17: Two American and one Mexican sailor aboard the ''M/V C-Endeavour'' were kidnapped by militants. All three were later released on December 3, 2011 for ransom.
2012
*Dec 17: Five Indian sailors aboard the ''SP Brussels'' were kidnapped by M.E.N.D. militants. All five men were later released on January 27, 2013 for ransom.
*Dec 20: 4 South Korean oil workers were kidnapped by MEND gunmen from an oil plant in the
Niger Delta
The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical ...
. All 4 men were later released on December 23.
2013
*Kidnapping of seven expatriates by
Ansaru.
2014
*On 28 November 2014, two
Pakistani and one
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n construction workers were kidnapped at the
Emakalakala town,
Bayelsa
Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yenag ...
state.
See also
Kidnapping in Nigeria
References
External links
CHRONOLOGY-Nigerian kidnappings of foreigners in oil deltaTIMELINE: Attacks in Nigeria's oil deltaTimeline Nigeria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreign Hostages In Nigeria
History of Nigeria
Fossil fuels in Nigeria
Niger River Delta
Terrorism in Nigeria