Nearly 50 oil workers kidnapped in southern Nigeria

Militants and villagers on Monday attacked an Italian oil platform and took nearly 50 people hostage in oil-rich southern Nigeria, a government official said.

Victor Akenge, the environment commissioner of southern Bayelsa state, said that some militants invaded Tebidaba flow station belonging to Italy's Agip company, adding that contacts are being made to them.

According to an Agip spokesman, about 48 Agip workers and security staff are being held at the flow station and oil production is understandably halted.

The U.S. consulate in Lagos issued a warning on Friday that a militant group in the restive Niger Delta "may have finalized its plans for a unified attack against oil facilities" in the region.

Tension in southern Nigeria has been strained in recent months as local communities accuse foreign oil companies of reneging on promises to provide jobs and social amenities.

Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and the sixth largest oil exporter in the world, which can normally produce 2.6 million barrels of crude oil output per day.

Source: Xinhua