LAGOS, June 2: Gunmen abducted eight foreign workers in a night-time raid on an oil rig off the coast of Nigeria on Friday, raising new security fears after a series of militant attacks that cut output from Africa’s top oil producer.

Some 20 to 30 attackers fired shots as they boarded the rig from four speed boats but no one was injured, security sources familiar with the situation said.

“Some unknown persons boarded the rig and took eight workers. They are six from the UK, one Canadian and one from the US,” said an executive from one of the companies that operate the Bulford Dolphin rig.

He denied reports that eight Nigerians were also abducted in the attack.

President Olusegun Obasanjo’s spokeswoman said the kidnappers were believed to have come from Ekeremor community in Bayelsa, a coastal state nearest to the rig. She said Mr Obasanjo was working with Bayelsa authorities to free the abducted men.

“President Obasanjo has been briefed that the crisis arose because of a breakdown in communication between the companies and the community,” the spokeswoman said.

“He is hoping that the leaders of the community, the traditional rulers, will help him in ensuring that the hostages are released expeditiously,” she added.

Kidnappings are a common tactic by disgruntled members of communities in the oil-producing Niger Delta who want companies to give them money, jobs or funding for development projects in their lands. The hostages are usually released unharmed.—Reuters