Oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria

ABUJA, July 26, 2017 – Suspected Boko Haram militants have kidnapped at least 10 members of a geological survey team in Nigeria’s Borno state, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) said Wednesday.

“About 10 members of the University of Maiduguri geology and surveying department were abducted by suspected Boko Haram members,” NNPC spokesman Ndu Ughamadu told the press. “They were kidnapped around Jibi village in Borno state after a gun duel between the security agents accompanying them and suspected Boko Haram fighters.”

The university researchers had been contracted by the NNPC to do survey work in the Lake Chad Basin, where the NNPC recently resumed exploration efforts after a pause due to Boko Haram violence.

“This is necessary with our renewed efforts in harnessing oil, gas and power to increase the economy of the nation, in line with the agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari in job creation and economic diversification,” Saidu Mohamed, NNPC’s CEO of gas and power, had said in May, setting a July deadline for the resumption of activities.

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