Gunmen overran an oil flow station in Nigeria's restive Niger Delta Wednesday, seizing five expatriate workers, officials said.
Two New Zealanders, one Australian, a Venezuelan and a Lebanese were taken a day after the oil-rich delta's most outspoken militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said it would not extend a month-long truce with the government.
But MEND denied responsibility for Wednesday's attack on a Shell oil facility in southern Rivers State, according to the BBC.
A Shell official, who requested anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that "there was an incident at our flow station, but I cannot give details now."
Niger Delta militants demanding a greater say in the use of their region's oil wealth have waged a fierce campaign against the government and foreign oil companies operating in the area's murky swamps.
Up to 200 foreign oil workers have been taken hostage since the beginning of 2006, with most released by the masked militants after a short period and once a ransom is paid.
President Umaru Yar'Adua, who took power May 29, has pledged to bring peace to the turbulent region, after his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo failed to do so.
(Deutsche Press-Agentur, 05/07/2007)