Canadian Oil Worker Kidnapped In Nigeria

Two foreign oil workers, a Canadian and a Scot, were kidnapped by gunmen from an oil rig in Nigeria’s Delta region Saturday, the military said.

The workers were taken during an 8 a.m. raid on the rig owned by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources, military spokesman Maj. Ibrahim Abubakar said In A Statement To Daily Mail.

A Nigerian citizen was also kidnapped when about a dozen gunmen stormed the rig, firing weapons and grabbing three men, according to local news reports. They then fled into an area of thick forest and swamps.

The military has dispatched troops to search the area.

Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Sunday they were “aware that a Canadian citizen was the victim of a kidnapping in Nigeria,” and that “consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information.”

The identities of the victims have not been released, but Global Affairs Canada says that “consular services are being provided for the family of the Canadian.”

Abubakar told CNN on Monday, that no ransom has been demanded.

Two Royal Dutch Shell oil workers were kidnapped Thursday and their police escorts killed while returning from a trip in the same region.

In January, two Canadians and two Americans were abducted while travelling in Nigeria, an incident unrelated to the lucrative oil business. They were all freed, unharmed, in a joint military and police operation.

The Nigeria Delta region in the south end of the country sees the extraction of two million barrels of oil a day.

The country is the 11th-largest oil-producing region in the world.