2007年VOA标准英语-Hostage Taking Continues Amid Spike in Gangland

Gunmen seized a foreign national in Nigeria's oil city of Port Harcourt early Friday. The man, a British national, is the latest victim of kidnapping for ransom¹ in the troubled Niger Delta² where gangland violence and gunfights have peaked in recent days. For VOA, Sarah Simpson reports from Lagos.

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A resident of Nigeria's oil-rich delta region looks at flames from an oil company's gas flare

The UK Embassy in Nigeria has confirmed the man's nationality.

The man is the latest in a long line of over 200 foreign nationals, usually connected to Nigeria's multi-billion dollar oil industry, to be taken hostage.

Victims are generally released unharmed after payment of ransom.

Despite a flurry of releases earlier this week, five foreign nationals are currently held by various armed groups operating in the turbulent wetlands of the Niger Delta where intra-gang violence has peaked.

Gun battles between criminal gangs has increased in recent days, killing⁴ civilians⁵ in crossfire⁶, though police have not confirmed how many died.

A militant⁷ struggle for an increased share of Nigeria's oil wealth to go to the impoverished⁸ Niger Delta region has degenerated⁹ into an untreated rash of armed robberies, kidnappings and gangland violence.

Militant groups launched a campaign of violence against the oil industry, including hostage takings of oil sector¹⁰ workers, in early 2006.

International companies have evacuated¹¹ thousands of foreign nationals and their families from the region, source of Africa's largest oil exports.

The uncontrolled violence in the Niger Delta regularly forces up oil prices on international markets.