[originaltext]Unidentified kidnappers snatched two Norwegian and two Ukrainian

Unidentified kidnappers snatched two Norwegian and two Ukrainian oil workers from a supply ship provisioning oil rigs in Nigeria’s petroleum-rich waters, officials said Wednesday. They were taken hostage late Tuesday from the vessel owned by a Norwegian shipping firm, Trico Supply, company spokesman Bjom Endresen said in Norway.
Nigeria confirmed the latest violence against the oil industry in Africa’s petroleum giant and said negotiators had been sent to the restive Niger Delta region where most of the crude is pumped.
Endresen said there were 11 other crew members aboard the ship at the time of the kidnapping, but did not give further details. He rejected initial Norwegian media reports that a Briton was among those kidnapped.
Norwegian newspaper VG also reported on its Website that the kidnappers were demanding a ransom.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Frode Overland Andersen said he could not confirm the ransom demand, but said the Norwegian Embassy in Abuja was working with local authorities to get more details on the abductions.
Last week, militants wearing camouflage uniforms took hostage a German oil industry worker, spiriting him away on a boat into Nigeria’s troubled oil-rich delta region. A group calling itself the Movement for the Niger Delta People has claimed responsibility for that kidnapping, but police said the group was unknown.
Militants have kidnapped oil workers to bargain for a greater share of the wealth from Africa’s largest crude producer. More than 30 have been taken this year, three from the oil-producing hub of Port Harcourt. The militants argue residents remain deeply impoverished, benefiting little from oil wealth while government officials and oil companies grow rich.