165 Shell Oil Workers Taken Hostage in Nigeria
August 3, 2000 - 0:0
TEHRAN The international oil company Shell said 165 of its workers were being held hostage on its installations in Bayelsa State, southeast Nigeria, AFP quoted the BBC as reporting Tuesday.
It quoted a local Shell spokesman, Harriam Essa Oyofo, as saying 35 armed members of local communities arrived at two oil rigs in eight motor-boats and took the Shell employees hostage, demanding that the oil company recruit young local people.
Oyofo expressed fears for the welfare of the hostages, who were said to include 14 expatriates. "We suspect they are running out of food," he told the BBC.
It quoted a local Shell spokesman, Harriam Essa Oyofo, as saying 35 armed members of local communities arrived at two oil rigs in eight motor-boats and took the Shell employees hostage, demanding that the oil company recruit young local people.
Oyofo expressed fears for the welfare of the hostages, who were said to include 14 expatriates. "We suspect they are running out of food," he told the BBC.