Gunmen kidnap Polish engineer in Nigerian oil delta

ABUJA, May 25 (Reuters) Gunmen kidnapped a Polish engineer near the oil city of Warri in the Niger Delta today, security sources said, bringing the number of foreign hostages in the anarchic delta to 16.

Six gunmen seized the Polish man, who is the chief engineer for a dredging company, at Orugbo Creek near Warri port, security experts working for oil companies said.

Abductions for ransom or to press political demands are frequent in the impoverished Niger Delta, home to Africa' biggest oil industry. Gunmen seized a Lebanese oil executive in Warri on Tuesday while 14 other foreigners are being held by different armed groups across the vast wetlands.

Oil production from Nigeria, the world's eighth biggest exporter, is down by about 700,000 barrels per day or almost a quarter because of an 18-month surge in violence.

Militants have demanded regional control over oil revenues, compensation for decades of oil spills and freedom for two jailed leaders from the region.

But criminality flourishes in the lawless delta and most abductions are motivated by money. About 100 foreigners have been kidnapped this year and released unharmed after their employers paid ransoms.

REUTERS SV HT1440