Armed pirates kidnap 6 foreigners off Nigeria coast

Pirates have kidnapped at least six foreigners after storming their vessel off the coast of Nigeria’s oil-rich southern Delta, police officials say.

The attack took place on Sunday off the coast of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta after pirates armed with guns attacked the Armada Tuah vessel operated by the Lagos-based Century Group and kidnapped crew members, said Bayelsa State Police spokesman Fidelis Odunna on Wednesday.

“Three of those abducted are from Ukraine, two from India, one from Russia… One of the kidnappers called to demand the sum of 200 million naira (one million euros, USD 1.3 million),” he added.

He went on to say that “We have deployed intelligence personnel in search of the six workers.”

Kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreign oil workers, frequently occur in the petroleum-rich Niger Delta.

On December 25, pirates abducted four sailors, including three Italians, after storming their vessel in the same region.

“Pirates armed with guns attacked, boarded an offshore supply vessel… and kidnapped four crew members,” said the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in a statement following the attack.

In a similar assault, gunmen stormed a ship belonging to a French oil and gas company off Nigeria in October, 2012 kidnapping seven foreign crew members, including six Russians and an Estonian.

Meanwhile, at least one security guard was killed and seven foreigners were abducted by armed assailants who attacked a camp belonging to a Lebanese-owned construction company in Nigeria’s Jama’re town in Bauchi State on February 17, 2013.