(Crime): Unknown Gunmen Killed 3 Policemen and Kidnapped Oil Manager

In Nigeria, a group of unknown gunmen killed three police escorts and kidnapped the manager of a Nigerian oil company. This is the latest incident in the region, police said on Friday, November 25, 2022. The criminals, dressed in military uniforms, ambushed and fired on the convoy of a senior oil executive in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State and Nigeria's oil capital, on Thursday.

According to sources close to the police, three policemen escorting the Oil Manager were killed while the man was kidnapped and taken to an unknown location.

The regional police spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko said, the gunmen, posing as a military patrol team in a green car, stopped the convey before opening fire and killing the policemen instantly. And kidnapped the director of IGPES Group, a Nigerian oil and gas company based in Port Harcourt.

Iringe-Koko further said, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but investigations are underway.

The Niger Delta is home to billions of dollars-worth of oil and gas resources. But residents mostly live in abject poverty due to decades of pollution, neglect, corruption and a lack of redistribution. In the 2000s, gunmen kidnapped hundreds of oil companies' employees, including foreigners, to protest against the unfair exploitation of the resources.

Records have it that in 2009, government-backed amnesties helped reduced attacks, but sporadic incidents and large-scale oil theft persist in the region. Nigeria, an OPEC member and one of Africa's largest crude producers, loses up to US$2 billion annually due to widespread oil theft and pipeline siphoning in the region.

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