Italian petroleum firm Agip has reportedly tried and failed to secure the freedom via a "middleman" of four employees held hostage by armed militants, the latest turmoil between impovrished Nigerians and the industry pumping the country's resources.
Agip, a subsidiary of Italy's Eni, had hoped to free the workers with a payoff.
Members of the Nigerian militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta -- known by the acronym MEND -- told local and foreign news outlets they had confiscated more than half a million dollars of ransom money and retained their captives.
According to the MEND statement
, the militants would only release the hostages in exchange for a handful of its incarcerated leaders.
The Agip ransom plan is not the first time foreign oil companies have tried to take matters into their own hands when dealing with the growing militancy issue dogging Nigeria.
Earlier this year, Chevron announced it would open dialogues with community leaders in efforts to quell the recent violence that has disrupted oil extraction in the troubled West African country.
Nigeria's oil-rich Delta region has been the scene of numerous attacks on oil companies in recent months, at both on-shore and off-shore sites.
Several oil workers have been taken hostage and one killed.
Despite generating an estimated $300 billion in oil revenue since the 1970s, and being the world's eighth-largest oil exporter, the majority of Nigerians remain firmly ensconced in abject poverty.
The divide between the country's small minority of haves and its vast population of have-nots has become a breeding ground for discontent and rebellion, especially in the Niger Delta where black gold is pumped and exported.
In response to the unrest, the Nigerian government has sent thousands of additional troops to the region, but the violence there continues.
"Brute force does not work in the long term
," Fred Nelson, head of Chevron's operations in West Africa, said in June. "We all need to get it right in the Delta."
"Our strategy is dialogue with the communities to solve their problems," he said, referring to the new strategy Chevron is adopting for the country. "If we can solve the problems the security issue will go away."
Chevron was forced in 2003 to shut down one of it operations -- at the time producing an estimated 140
,000 barrels a day -- due to continuing militant attacks on its installations.
Nelson didn't elaborate on just how the California-based company plans on dealing with local leaders but, regardless, the company has its hands full.
The violence associated with militancy is responsible for reducing Nigerian oil production by 20 percent, according to a 2006 report. Some officials in Abuja
, however
, claim that production is down by as much as 50 percent.
While the violence has certainly sparked concerns among many oil workers about their safety, the largest oil companies aren't shying away from Nigeria
, noted Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa Program and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"Look at the kind of money that was shelled out by the Chinese this year," Morrison said to United Press International. China bought a $2.3 billion stake in Nigeria's offshore oil and gas fields.
Still, some foreign oil firms have had enough of the violence and closed some installations to avoid further attacks or kidnappings of their employees.
Amid the violence and uncertainty, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo remains optimistic about the region's economic potential, and last month assured investors the situation there "was becoming more controllable."
Obasanjo appears eager to wrest control of the region to improve oil production while making some inroads into improving the lives of its inhabitants. In August
, he vowed to crack down on the MEND hoping it would demonstrate the government's commitment to tackling the violence there.
Since then, militants have stepped up attacks and kidnappings and vowed to continue their struggle until their demands are met.
"I think the government is serious about wanting to find ways to address the grievances of the residents in the Delta," Peter Lewis
, director of the Africa Studies program at Johns Hopkins University
, told United Press International in November. "However it's simply not getting to the people."
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