Kidnapped American Oil Worker Identified

(Lagos, Nigeria) The story of the four foreign oil workers kidnapped a week ago has been slowly developing. Very slowly.

From the BBC:

The four foreign oil workers kidnapped by Nigerian militants have told Reuters news agency they are in good health.

The four - from the UK, US, Bulgaria and Honduras - were taken hostage by armed men on speedboats a week ago while in the Niger Delta region.

[ ... ]

"I'd like y'all to contact my family and let them know that I'm alright, these people are treating me good, but the climate is not what it should be," a man identifying himself as US citizen Patrick Landry told Reuters by telephone.

So, based on the reporting thus far, we know the names of three of the four abducted oil workers: Brit Nigel Watson-Clark, Bulgarian Milko Nichev, and American Patrick Landry. The fourth hostage is believed to be Honduran and has yet to be named.

With the slow progress toward resolving the crisis, the kidnappers, called the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), have added to their list of demands. Now, their demands include:

- Local control of the region's oil wealth
- The payment of $1.5bn by Shell to Bayelsa State to compensate for pollution
- The release of separatist leader Mujahid Dokubu Asari, being held on treason charges
- The release of former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyaseigha, accused of corruption and money-laundering
- The release of another ethnic Ijaw militant. [Note: The Ijaw is a tribal population who inhabit the Niger River delta.]

I suppose the Nigerian military is slowly inching toward confronting the kidnappers but, in the meantime, there's no measurable progress. That is, except for the terrorist kidnapperss, who attacked another oil pumping installation over the weekend, prompting Royal Dutch Shell to evacuate 330 workers.

Shell currently operates 1,000 wells with about 80 pumping stations in the delta region. Recent attacks have caused oil production from Nigeria to drop 10 percent putting upward pressure on world oil prices. Ominously, MEND stated its goal is to "totally destroy the capacity of the Nigerian government to export oil" and advised all oil workers to leave because they cannot be adequately protected.


[Update 1105 EST]

From The Jawa Report, the fourth hostage has been identified as Honduran Harry Ebanks.


[Update 01/30/06]

Workers freed.