Gunmen seize Filipina woman, Frenchman in Nigeria

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Feb 8 (Reuters) Gunmen kidnapped a Filipina woman in Port Harcourt in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta, the first known abduction of a woman in the anarchic region, and a Frenchman was seized in a separate incident.

Police said gunmen snatched the woman yesterday in a busy street as she was walking between a bank and her car. A security source said she had a large amount of cash on her at the time.

The woman lives in Port Harcourt with her husband, an Iranian national who owns a construction company.

The Frenchman was working on contract for oil giant Total, a company spokesman said today. The 59-year-old engineer, who has lived in Nigeria since 1995 and is married to a Nigerian woman, was snatched outside his house in a suburb of Port Harcourt, a French embassy spokesman said.

The abductions bring to 31 the number of foreigners being held by different armed groups in the delta. Another 25 Filipinos are among the captives, along with two Italians, one Lebanese and one American.

Resentment against the multi-billion-dollar oil industry fuels militancy in the impoverished Niger Delta, where a fifth of oil production capacity has been shut down for a year following attacks on oil facilities.

Nigeria is the world's eighth-biggest exporter of crude. Rebel groups have vowed to further disrupt production in the Niger Delta in their fight for the neglected region to gain greater local control of oil wealth.

But the lines are blurred between militancy and crime. Most abductions are resolved by payment of ransoms, while armed robberies and smuggling of stolen crude are also common.

RISING ANARCHY Oil workers' unions have been talking about a possible strike to protest against growing insecurity. Union leaders met President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja today to discuss the crisis and said afterwards they would meet amongst themselves to decide their next move.

Violence surged last year in the delta, prompting thousands of foreign workers and their families to leave, but for those who have stayed behind the situation has worsened since the start of 2007. It may further deteriorate in the run-up to elections in April as politicians sponsor their own militias.

Most of the violence in the Niger Delta occurs in its maze of mangrove-lined creeks, but Port Harcourt, the region's main city, has become increasingly dangerous in recent weeks.

Two engineers, an American and a Briton, were seized on their way to work in the city on January 23. The Briton was released yesterday on health grounds, police said. A security source said a ransom of 50 million naira was paid by the government of Rivers state, where Port Harcourt is located.

On January 28, hundreds of heavily armed militiamen stormed a police headquarters in a densely populated part of Port Harcourt, freeing one of their leaders and another 125 prisoners after a four-hour gunbattle with security forces.

In faraway creeks on the western side of the delta, 24 Filipino seamen have been held since January 20, when they were seized from a cargo ship.

Another Filipino was snatched from his car two days ago on the road between Port Harcourt and Owerri, the nearest city where there is a functioning airport.

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