Foreign oil workers abducted in Niger Delta

Gunmen seized a boatload of foreign oil workers Friday, and embassies said three Americans, four Britons and a South African were among them.

The vessel, owned by a Nigerian oil-services company, was carrying the foreigners in the Niger Delta, a vast lawless region of mangrove swamps and creeks in southern Nigeria, security officials said.

Nearly 200 foreign workers have been kidnapped in 18 months of attacks on oil companies and security forces in the oilfields of the Niger Delta. Most have been released unharmed, but more than a dozen still are in captivity.

On Thursday, five gunmen abducted a Polish worker heading to a construction project in southern Nigeria and rushed the captive into the swamps in a speedboat, officials said.

Militant attacks against the oil companies and government since late 2005 have cut Nigeria’s daily crude production by nearly a third.

The militants say they are fighting for the liberation of two of their leaders imprisoned on corruption and treason charges, and a greater share of oil revenue for the impoverished region.

But in recent months criminal gangs have taken up the practice of kidnapping foreigners for ransom. Although hostages generally are released unharmed after payment is made, two have died in the crossfire when security forces intervened.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, an OPEC member and a top supplier of crude to the United States.