Gunmen have attacked an oil
tanker off the coast of Nigeria,
stealing personal belongings
and kidnapping five Indian
crew members, the ship's
operator says.
The SP Brussels is said to have
been boarded by "heavily armed
pirates" on Monday, about 65km
(40 miles) off the the coast of
the oil-producing Niger Delta
region.
On the same day, gunmen
kidnapped six employees of a
South Korean firm.
Kidnappings are common in the
Niger Delta, Africa's main oil
region.
Following the attack on Monday,
the remaining crew sailed the
ship to Nigeria's economic
capital Lagos, operator Medallion
Marine said.
"Medallion Marine have been
working in close co-operation
with the authorities, and
everything possible is being
done to ensure the safe return
of those crew members taken
from the vessel," said the
company in a statement.
"Nigerian naval vessels are
assisting with this process."
Lucrative enterprise
Four foreigners and two
Nigerians working for the South
Korean company Hyundai were
kidnapped on the Atlantic coast
of the oil-rich Bayelsa state on
Monday, according to the police.
Kidnapping is a lucrative criminal
enterprise worth millions of
dollars a year in Nigeria. The
country has one of the world's
worst kidnapping records.
Oil workers and other foreign
nationals working in the
southern region are often
targeted because companies will
pay high ransom money to
secure their employees' release.
Earlier this month, the mother of
Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala was snatched
from her home in the Delta state.
She was freed after for five days.
The minister said the kidnappers
had demanded her resignation.
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