Nigeria Security Update #2 090707

More Kidnappings (AP & other wire services)

Gunmen attacked an oil facility in restive southern Nigeria overnight and took two foreigners hostage, private security contractors said Monday.

The Bulgarian citizen, who was taken hostage overnight in the southern part of Nigeria, has been identified as Kiril Rafailov Elevterov, officials announced.

The Bulgarian was kidnapped along with a British citizen after an assault against the British oil company Exprogroup, operating in the state of Delta, a statement of the foreign ministry said.

Both the Bulgarian and the Briton are Exprogroup employees.

Earlier reports said the several speedboats full of gunmen attacked a barge belonging to Nigerian oil company Manipolu in the Calabar region late Sunday night.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping yet.

Sunday night's attack coincided with the release of British 3-year-old Margaret Hill, whose father works for an energy company. She was the first foreign child to be kidnapped in the restive Niger river delta region, which has seen about 150 foreigners seized this year.

This is the second case of a kidnapped Bulgarian in Nigeria. Oil worker Milko Nichev, together with Honduran Harry Ebanks, American Patrick Landry, and Briton Nigel Watson-Clark, was kidnapped in Nigeria on January 12, 2006. Negotiators from Nigerian government had held talks on the release of the four abducted nationals and speculations said a ransom of USD 770 000 was paid.

The militants who had held the four said they were releasing them for humanitarian reasons, but pledged to continue attacks on oil fields.