9 oil workers abducted by suspected militants in Bayelsa State

by Rachel Ogbu

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Nine oil workers of Octopus Clan Nigerian Limited and the Deck Oil Servicing Company along the Ikebiri creek, Southern Ijaw Local Government of Bayelsa State were abducted by suspected militants on Friday.

A source from Ikebiri, said he witnessed the gunmen capture the workers.

“These gunmen are suspected to be killers of the 12 policemen. They must have kidnapped the workers for ransom or guarantee their escape from JTF’s manhunt,” he said.

According to reports, an anonymous top security source confirmed what had happened.

“Nine oil workers were kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be militants. They were working for two contractual firms hired by Agip to lay pipelines from Ogoinbiri to Temitaba in Southern Ijaw Local Government of Bayelsa State,” he said.

The Punch reports:

The victims are employees of Octopus Clan Nigerian Limited and the Deck Oil Servicing Company. While five of the victims are employees of Octopus, the other four are members of staff of Deck Oil.

Our correspondent gathered that the abduction of the victims, said to be all Nigerians, took place on Friday.

Incidentally, the former Chairman of the defunct Bayelsa State Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee, Chief James Jephathah, reportedly owns OCNL.

Security sources told our correspondent that the abductors might be members of the gang that killed 12 policemen along the waterways of Azuzuama in Southern Ijaw recently.

The workers were reportedly laying pipelines for the Nigerian Agip Oil Company when their abductors swooped on them.

It was gathered that Agip hired the two firms to repair the leakages in its 18 Tebidaba Brass line, Ogoda Ogboinbiri 24, Oporoma, Ogboinbiri Tebidaba 14 line, Osama 6” flow line, Tebidaba wells 14 and 11 flow line replacement among other oil installations.

When contacted, the Media Coordinator, Joint Task Force, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said he was unaware of the development.

 

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