Lagos, Nigeria: A new worry is growing over the fate of four foreigners held hostage by a group demanding local control over Nigeria's oil wealth.
The oil workers from the US, Britain, Bulgaria and Honduras, respectively, were kidnapped by the group on January 11.
In its latest statement, the group commander said the American hostage was gravely ill.
He said if he died, they would kill the other hostages as well.
The group wants the Nigerian government to release ethnic IJaw leaders. It is also demanding that Nigeria's largest oil investor Shell compensate the country before shutting down its operations.
Nigerian oil workers’ unions on Friday threatened to withdraw their members from the troubled Niger delta region if the government fails to stop continuing violence there.
"It needs be mentioned that if the restiveness and consequent harassment and violence on workers in the oil and gas industry persist, we shall not hesitate to withdraw our members in the various oil and gas companies operating in the region," the NUPENG and PENGASSAN unions said in a joint statement.
The unions said 22 people have been killed since January 11 when militants kidnapped the four foreign oilmen at a Shell oilfield and sabotaged pipelines.
"Our attention has been drawn to the violence being unleashed by a militia group in the Niger Delta on our members, leading to the loss of 22 lives, the taking of oil workers as hostages and the shutting down of a flowstation in Benisede in Bayelsa State," they said.
Describing the recent rampage as 'one too many', the unions called on government, at all levels, to urgently address the problems with a view to amicably resolving them.
"This call has become necessary because the workers are always the first target of youths' aggression in the region," they said.
The unions urged the government to employ peaceful means to secure the release of the abducted oil workers to ensure their safety.
(With AFP inputs)
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