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| Oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria | Oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Unknown gunmen have attacked and snatched five foreign workers from an oil rig in Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta, security sources say. | Unknown gunmen have attacked and snatched five foreign workers from an oil rig in Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta, security sources say. |
| The attack comes a day after the main militant group in the area said it had called off a month-long truce. | The attack comes a day after the main militant group in the area said it had called off a month-long truce. |
| But the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) says it has nothing to do with this new attack. | But the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) says it has nothing to do with this new attack. |
| The hostages - two New Zealanders, an Australian, a Venezuelan and a Lebanese - were captured in Soku, Rivers state. | The hostages - two New Zealanders, an Australian, a Venezuelan and a Lebanese - were captured in Soku, Rivers state. |
| More than 100 foreigners have been taken hostage so far this year alone in the region. | |
| The hostages are usually released unharmed after ransom payments that the Nigerian government and oil companies involved always deny. | |
| Ceasefire | |
| Earlier on Monday, another clash between the militants and the Nigerian Navy also left two junior officers missing and a gunboat destroyed. | |
| "Two of our men are missing, but we are currently searching for them," Nigerian Navy spokesman Capt Obiora Medani told the BBC News website. | |
| On Tuesday, Mend announced that it would not extend its month-long ceasefire called to give the new government a chance to set up talks on the restive region. | |
| The group said it had been kept on the sidelines of government-led talks about the future of the highly impoverished Niger Delta region. | |
| It also warned it would resume its attacks on oil installations and the kidnappings of foreign oil workers. | |
| The militants are campaigning for larger control of revenues coming from oil exploration in their region. | |
| Although the Niger Delta accounts for over 90% of Nigeria's income, the region remains highly impoverished, a situation the militants say they want to change with their campaign. |