DFA okays OFW travel to Nigeria despite reported kidnap
06/22/2006 | 09:31 AM
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it will not impose a ban on workers seeking employment in Nigeria despite the reported abduction of two Filipinos in the oil-rich African country, GMANews.TV learned Thursday.
DFA spokesman Gilbert Asuque said the abduction was an unusual development since the political situation in Nigeria is supposedly peaceful.
"We have Filipinos who work in the capital and had no problems. We have had problems with those in remote oil fields," Asuque said in a radio interview.
Last Tuesday, six armed men on board a boat reportedly kidnapped Filipino workers of Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) near the oil city of Port Harcourt in the southern Niger Delta.
The Filipinos’ direct employer is a company called Beaufort International, which is under contract to PGS.
The DFA dispatched a consular team from the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria to check the veracity of the report.
Asuque said vice consul Randy Arquiza and an assistance-to-nationals officer were assigned to coordinate with police officials in Port Harcourt.
The Philippines previously banned Filipinos from travelling to war-torn Iraq following the abduction of truck driver Angelo dela Cruz in 2004.
Armed men of the separatist Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) have launched a string of kidnapping activities in their clamor for additional shares of oil revenues and better environmental protection.
MEND kidnapped Filipino contract worker Anthony Santos on February 18, but released him 11 days later.
The group said they decided to release Santos, a purported low-value hostage, since the Philippines does not have interests in the oil industry.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer, with a capacity to generate 2.6 billion barrels a day.-GMANews.TV
DFA spokesman Gilbert Asuque said the abduction was an unusual development since the political situation in Nigeria is supposedly peaceful.
"We have Filipinos who work in the capital and had no problems. We have had problems with those in remote oil fields," Asuque said in a radio interview.
Last Tuesday, six armed men on board a boat reportedly kidnapped Filipino workers of Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) near the oil city of Port Harcourt in the southern Niger Delta.
The Filipinos’ direct employer is a company called Beaufort International, which is under contract to PGS.
The DFA dispatched a consular team from the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria to check the veracity of the report.
Asuque said vice consul Randy Arquiza and an assistance-to-nationals officer were assigned to coordinate with police officials in Port Harcourt.
The Philippines previously banned Filipinos from travelling to war-torn Iraq following the abduction of truck driver Angelo dela Cruz in 2004.
Armed men of the separatist Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) have launched a string of kidnapping activities in their clamor for additional shares of oil revenues and better environmental protection.
MEND kidnapped Filipino contract worker Anthony Santos on February 18, but released him 11 days later.
The group said they decided to release Santos, a purported low-value hostage, since the Philippines does not have interests in the oil industry.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer, with a capacity to generate 2.6 billion barrels a day.-GMANews.TV
