SIX Britons are among eight foreign workers seized by gunmen in a raid on an oil platform off the Nigerian coast.

It is thought to be the latest in a spate of attacks and kidnappings by militants who want more of the country’s oil profits to go to the impoverished communities of the Niger delta’s mangrove swamps.

An American and a Canadian were also taken from the Bulford Dolphin platform, which was operating about 40 miles offshore in the Gulf of Guinea. It was boarded early yesterday by up to 30 gunmen, who fired shots as they approached in four speedboats.

Dolphin Drilling, an Aberdeen-based company that had jointly leased the semi-submersible exploration platform, said: “One of the abductees was made to call their onshore office in an attempt to open negotiations. Other than that, we don’t know who appears to be responsible or what the condition of the abductees might be.”

Drilling had temporarily been suspended, and the families of the kidnap victims, as well as other crew, had been contacted, the company said. The names of those kidnapped have not been released.

The attack is embarrassing for the Nigerian authorities — particularly the Navy, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary with an international fleet review by President Obasanjo in Lagos yesterday. US and British naval commanders were taking part in the festivities.

Nigeria, which normally pumps 2.5 million barrels of crude a day, is Africa’s largest producer and the fifth-largest source of imports to the United States. The continuing attacks on the oil industry have cut production by more than a fifth. The unrest has helped to drive oil prices higher on international markets.

Despite the country’s huge income from oil, most of the population live on the poverty line. Some of the Niger delta’s armed militias have a political agenda to redistribute oil wealth; others exist simply to extort money from the multinational oil companies.

The best-known armed group is the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which says it is fighting for a larger share of revenues to be spent in the region as well as compensation for pollution.

Hostages are generally released unharmed after being held for several days among the Delta’s lagoons and waterways.

A man from the Bath area, Nigel Watson-Clark, 50, was among four workers seized in January and released 19 days later. A former paratrooper, he had been about to return home after spending four weeks patrolling oilfields when he was captured.

Last month a gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed an American who was in a car on his way to work at the offices of Baker Hughes, the US drilling equipment company, in the oil industry hub of Port Harcourt.

Yesterday Nigerian police said that it was not clear who was behind the latest kidnapping. “We are on their trail and trying to secure the hostages’ release as soon as possible,” a spokesman said.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are in touch with the Nigerian authorities and the men’s company and are making urgent efforts to find out more information.”

RISKY BUSINESS

Militants have killed a US oil executive and blown up two pipelines

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the best-known group, demands more local control over the oil industry

In Nigeria, the sixth- largest oil exporter, 60 per cent of the population live on the poverty line

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